Girnar Soft invests $1 mn in education start-up

Girnar Soft, which markets new and used cars online on CarDekho.com, on Tuesday announced investing $1 million (Rs.6.7 crore) in a disruptive education start-up 'CollegeDekho' to connect colleges and students.

Incubated by unnamed entrepreneurs for easing admission process, CollegeDekho leverages its proprietary and technology platform to match student preferences to prospective colleges.

"Higher education is a market segment that requires a fresh approach to overcome the incumbent inertia," Girnar Soft chief executive Amit Jain said in a statement here.

With the funding, it has underlined its mission to develop tech-driven solutions for industry verticals that can help circumvent traditional roadblocks associated with them.

"There are 30-million students in 36,000 colleges across the country. In spite of being the world's third largest higher education market, India is underpenetrated and offers huge growth potential," said CollegeDekho chief executive and founder Ruchir Arora.

The investment was secured due to the vision, management and entrepreneurial team behind the start-up.

"The synergy and strength of driving the team at CollegeDekho played a key role in convincing us to invest into the venture," Jain said.

As an open platform, CollegeDekho facilitates interaction between students and colleges, provides right information and helps in evaluating and selecting career options most suited to their interests and proficiency.

"The fund will be used for developing the platform, building team and marketing its offerings," Jain added.

Besides CarDekho.com, Girnar also runs auto portals like Gaadi.com and Zigwheels.com, besides BikeDekho.com and PriceDekho.com.