Edtech startup Newton School raises $25 mn from Steadview Capital, others

Newton School, the Bengaluru-based edtech startup - building a neo-university for aspiring software developers, has raised $25 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Steadview Capital, the global investment firm whose portfolio includes Indian unicorns Nykaa, Polygon, Zomato and Freshworks. Existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and RTP Global also participated in the round. The capital raised will be used to accelerate the company’s growth and expand its team, technology and brand building initiatives.

“This fundraise will enable us to build a strong brand and leadership team while investing in innovative technologies like AI to transform education,” said Newton School’s Founders Siddharth Maheshwari and Nishant Chandra. “In India, you have more than a million college graduates every year who fail to get relevant employment opportunities, and yet there are thousands of companies struggling to find talent. Newton School’s learning platform aims to bridge this gap, and we are excited to partner with like-minded investors who believe in the transformative powers of industry-oriented education and the internet.”

Founded in 2019 by IIT batchmates Nishant Chandra and Siddharth Maheshwari, Newton School was built to democratise higher education. It provides outcome-oriented learning experiences to freshers and working professionals, while enabling people from across India to become highly skilled software developers and have high-paying careers in technology. In just [over] two years, the firm said it has successfully placed over 1,500 aspirants in over 600  companies including Google, Lenskart, Razorpay, Flipkart, Zomato, Deloitte, Meesho and Target. With an aim to provide flexible learning to working professionals, it recently launched a Master’s degree program for people from non-tech backgrounds. Newton School is on the trajectory to reach 100 million in annualized run rate by 2023.

“In a country where graduates are left with single-digit employability rates despite spending significant amounts of money on education, Newton School’s unique model and platform will support the aspirations of millions of Indians by removing location barriers and lowering costs,” said Puneet Kumar, MD at Steadview Capital. “We are confident in Newton School’s growth potential and are proud to partner with them in addressing crucial needs in the Indian education sector.”

Newton School’s Series B round follows just a year after it raised $5 million in a Series A round led by RTP Global and angels such as Flipkart’s Kalyan Krishnamoorthy, CRED’s Kunal Shah, Freshworks’ Girish Mathrubootham, Udaan’s Sujeet Kumar, and the founders of Unacademy and Razorpay.

Bengaluru-based tech-focused investment bank, IndigoEdge, served as the exclusive transaction advisor to Newton School.