TutorVista get $ 2 mn funding from Sequoia

TutorVista.com, the online web-based internet and consumer services firm which offers "education and test prep" services, has secured a $2 million series A funding from the global venture capital fund Sequoia Capital, according to K Ganesh, founder chairman.

This is the first such investment by the VC in this area and indicates the growing global interest in the consumer internet space.

Ganesh, the serial entrepreneur who after exiting BPO firm Customer.Asset lent a helping hand to business analytics startup Marketics, is seeking to bring through TutorVista.com the ubiquitous Indian private tutor to western children and their parents, via the internet.

He calls the business an "internet product and services play in education". It uses Indian resources to deliver assisted learning overseas and has as its target the entire range of students, from kindergarten to PhD. The initial pitch is for "K-12 students ? in math, physics, chemistry, biology and English ? (offering) help with homework, regular schoolwork and competitive exams like SAT, ACT, AP and state assessment exams."

The service is initially offered in the US and UK and Ganesh hopes "to grow through partnerships and acquisitions." He says he was inspired by Google and Phoenix Online in creating TutorVista.com. Google, incidentally, was also funded by Sequoia Capital.

A student logs in, buys hours of tutoring, takes a diagnostic test to determine his level, with counselling arrives at plan that meets his requirement, the counsellor devises a session plan, and then delivers the assistance with the help of content. "So the process can capture a student's status, calibrate his progress and deliver his achievement, thus encompassing the quintessence of pedagogy," explains Ganesh.

This is the first time an Indian company is attempting a B2C model, serving the US consumer direct without any intermediate entity. Till now, all off-shoring and outsourcing has been B2B businesses. An Indian company like Infosys or Wipro will have a US corporation as a client and provide services to the US company. But TutorVista deals directly with the parent and student.

This is also "a virtual company model. We have only a handful of core people at the centre at any time. The rest operated from home. The entire, training, recruitment and certification is done on-line," says Ganesh.

"We are targetting the mass market in US. Our vision is to make tutoring and supplemental education affordable to every household in US. Today its very expensive "" $40-60 per hour. We offer at $100 per month unlimited tutoring."