Indian co-founded edtech startup Cialfo extends series B funding to $60 mn

Singapore-based EdTech company Cialfo – co-founded by a 32-year-old Indian, Rohan Pasari – said it has secured a further $20 million in funding as part of a Series B extension, led by US-based investment firm Tiger Global. The news follows January’s announcement of a $40 million round co-led by global investment firm Square Peg and Australian-headquartered SEEK Investments, taking the round size to $60 million. This brings the total raised to date to $77 million, including the initial $15 million in Series A funding in February 2021.

Cialfo said it is a digital transformation leader in higher education committed to increasing access for millions of students worldwide. This latest funding will help the company to achieve this mission by increasing its investment in strategic markets like India, including special scholarships for students. A $20 million target was initially set for the Series B round, and the team managed to triple this figure as demand for international student mobility and virtual college recruitment soared during the pandemic.

"Our full focus remains on evolving in a way that positively impacts our students, schools, and ultimately, society, with speed and at scale," said Cialfo CEO and Co-Founder, Rohan Pasari. "This funding will help us to do just that. It naturally also will allow us to invest in continuous product development so we can deliver even more personalized and practical support to our community of students, counselors and universities. Importantly, growing our operations in critical markets."

Cialfo began its India operations in 2019 and has already enrolled over 300 high schools and 60 universities from the country as members. More than 56,000 Indian high school students are utilizing its platform every year to secure undergraduate college admissions. The company said it is a market leader in the segment, with over 60 per cent of all Indian high schools that use a college-application platform being Cialfo customers.

A short-term surge in edtech spending, brought on by Covid-19, is expected to recalibrate to a longer-term integration of digital technologies by schools from K12 to universities, and to drive higher adoption rates of hybrid education experiences in the years ahead. According to Research and Markets, the global education technology sector is experiencing a digital transformation – with a predicted growth of up to 130 per cent by 2027 – which is expected to benefit people across a wide range of socio-economic and geographic backgrounds.

Among the first movers in virtual student engagement, and a specialist in Asian markets, Cialfo said it is well-positioned to capture this opportunity. Its platform currently connects over 270,000 high school students, their counselors, and families with over 1,000 colleges in 50 countries. The firm said it had achieved trusted partner status with globally recognized universities such as Imperial College London in the UK, The University of Chicago in the United States, and IE University in Spain.