Eruditus raises $8 million in series B round from Bertelsmann India

Eruditus Executive Education, a provider of executive education programmes, on Monday announced that it has raised $8 million (about Rs 53 crore) in series B funding from Bertelsmann India Investments.

Co-founded in 2010 by Ashwin Damera and Chaintanya Kalipatnapu, Eruditus partners with leading business schools across the world, including Harvard Business School, Wharton, INSEAD and MIT Sloan among others, to offer professional development courses in India, Singapore, Dubai and other global locations. In addition to its offline porgrammes, Eruditus has partnered with Damera-founded Emeritus Institute of Management to offer online courses under the SPOC (small, private, online courses) model.

Eruditus will use the funds to strengthen its existing partnerships with universities, forge new alliances as well as expand its geographical footprint to China, Latin America and Europe, it said in a statement. “Demand for high-quality educational services – particularly in the business sector – is growing fast in India and Southeast Asia,” said Pankaj Makkar, managing director at Bertelsmann India Investments. “Eruditus meets this demand with classroom, online and blended-learning offers, giving more people access to global business education,” he added.

Currently, Eruditus has about 20 courses on offer, and claims to have enrolled more than 5,000 students across 50 countries to date. “Making world-class professional education accessible and affordable to the entire world is the mission of Eruditus,” said Kalipatnapu, who serves as director of Eruditus. Courses cost anywhere between $30,000 and $50,000 depending on the type and length of the programme. The company also offers customised programmes to corporates such as Tata Consultancy Services, HSBC, Accenture, Bharat Petroleum and Asian Paints, to meet their varied requirements.

Since launching in the country in 2012, Bertelsmann India Investments has invested in nine companies, including music streaming service Saavn, online furniture marketplace Pepperfry and digital lending platform for SMEs Lendingkart. The fund focuses on early stage as well as growth stage investments.