Masai School, a career-focused education startup, announced it has raised $5 million in the Series A funding round led by Omidyar Network India. Existing investors Unitus Ventures, India Quotient and AngelList India also participated in the funding round.
This new round of funding comes less than a year after Masai School raised its Pre-Series A round in August 2020, led by Unitus Ventures. Masai School began operations in June 2019.
Headquartered in Bengaluru, the startup follows the income share agreement (ISA), which allows students to ‘Study Now and Pay Later’. Till date, Masai School has graduated 200-plus students across eight batches, with a placement rate of 91 percent at an average CTC of Rs 6.75 LPA, the company said.
Masai School’s hiring partners include Samsung, Sharechat, Urban Company, Instamojo, Airmeet, GlobalLogic, Lendingkart, MPL, Nobroker and Paytm.
Speaking on the announcement, Prateek Shukla, CEO and co-founder of Masai School, said, “We are building Masai with a clear focus – enable the youth to launch careers in a field of their choice. Why should they go to a college or university that puts them in debt; only to follow that up with finishing schools or expensive certifications – as a supplement, in the hopes of finding a job?”
“To provide equal opportunity, we at Masai School, don’t ask for any degree and neither do we filter by stream of secondary education. We are in fact proud to have helped more than 200 students launch their full-time careers in the technology industry while more than 50% of those came from a non-CS background.”
With the latest funding, the company said will launch new programs in user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) designing, product management (PM) and data analytics; in addition to strengthening the existing offerings of full-stack web and Android development.
Prateek further added, “The funding will primarily be used to expand our curriculum and contribute to the transitioning of our business model from being a coding centric to a career focused institute. With that said, we are on track to graduate more than 2000 learners in FY 2020-21.”
The company said it will also offer the living allowance program – under which top performing students are given Rs 15,000 per month for the duration of the program .
“Further, their commitment to outcomes is clear in their ISA model which reduces the burden on young professionals and focuses on helping them really launch their career unhindered. We’re excited to partner with Masai School early in this journey that we believe can help define how skilling and learning for employment happens in India.” said Siddharth Nautiyal, Partner, Omidyar Network India.
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