Tutorvista to get $50 million from NEA

NEA (New Enterprise Associates), a global private equity fund with committed capital of around $11 billion, is understood to have clinched a deal to invest $50 million in Bangalore-based Tutorvista, spearheaded by serial entrepreneur K Ganesh. TutorVista is an educational portal offering one-to-one live tutoring over the Internet and has various arms in the education space, spanning digital learning content, consumer Internet, brick-and-mortal tutorial centres and schools.

NEA is understood to have pipped Temasek and Stanchart Private Equity, besides a few other marquee names in the PE industry, for this deal which is understood to have been struck at a steep valuation of $200 million. When contacted, Ganesh said they are in the final stages of closing the deal and they have not yet firmed up an investor. “We are raising $50 million and we are in talks with three investors and we are nearing closing the deal,” he said. NEA could not be reached for comments.

TutorVista has so far raised $38 million in previous funding rounds and upcom-ing funding round of $50 million will take the company’s total fundraising to $88 million. Earlier investors in this company include — British publishing major Pearson, Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG), Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Ventures. External investors, prior to this fresh round of $50 million, held a 55 per cent stake in TutorVista while the promoters, led by Ganesh and his team, hold the rest.

According to recent rep-orts, TutorVista is planning to acquire more schools and school management rights through its Manipal Schools division by expanding to 100 formal schools over the next three years with the fresh infusion of funds. Tutorvista is understood to be looking at expanding its presence to 10 states through the acquisition route.

Reports further indicate that India’s private education spending was estimated to be $54 billion in 2009 and is projected to grow to $70 billion by 2012 at a CAGR of 16 per cent.