Edtech startup byteXL has secured $5.9 Mn (around INR 49 Cr) in a Series A funding round led by Kalaari Capital. The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the family behind tech giant Dell, participated in the round.

The startup plans to use the fresh capital to expand its team and reach out to more colleges and universities across the country. Besides, a part of the proceeds will also be deployed for product development and the introduction of new digital tools and technologies.

Founded in 2019 by Karun Tadepalli and Charan Tadepalli, byteXL is a Hyderabad-based B2B edtech startup offering IT skills for students via engineering colleges.

They claim to partner with colleges and industry to integrate curriculum, content, and practical learning, enabling students with the necessary skills and awareness on employability and empowerment.

Its program offering is divided into three parts. The first is the IT skill-focused curriculum, the second is the Nimbus software where the students can work on the codes, and the third is the mentor deployed in the college to help the students learn.

As per its website, byteXL has over 120K active platform users with over 1,500 students placed in top product-based companies, and more than 40K students placed in Wipro, Infosys, and TCS.

Karun Tadepalli said, “At byteXL, we’re not just teaching coding; we’re shaping futures and driving innovation in tech education across India. This funding will boost our confidence in empowering engineers of tomorrow with cutting-edge skills and technologies and help us bridge the gap between academia and industry at a faster pace.”

To this date, the company claims that they have raised a total capital of over $1.2 million. byteXL competes with giants like BYJU’s, UpGradi, Seekho, Unacademy, and Practically Trilogy Education Services in the broader edtech segment. 

After post-lockdown institutions and universities reopened, the industry saw a decline in investor interest, which is in contrast to the pattern previously noted by venture capitalists and private equity firms (VCs and PEs), who poured billions of dollars into the sector during the pandemic’s peak.

The issue was also made worse by various issues plaguing the industry’s startups. High capital burn, increasing losses, and weak governance obstacles were some of the issues that made up this crisis. 

In addition, the industry ranked well in terms of employee layoffs during the course of the preceding two years. Interestingly, from 2022 until now, up to 24 edtech enterprises have laid off over 14,616 employees.

Prominent companies in the sector, like BYJU’S, Unacademy, and UpGrad, have reported substantial financial losses for the past two years. Additionally, companies like Udayy, Supen Learn, and DUX Education have closed due to a lack of funding. 

Indian edtech companies raised $283 million in 2023 compared to $2.4 billion in 2022, per Inc42’s Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2023. This is an astounding 88% year-over-year (YoY) decrease. Furthermore, from 257 in 2022 to 139 in 2023, there were 45.91% fewer deals YoY.

Discover the next big investment! Unicorn Signals’ IPO screener helps you identify promising initial public offerings. Download Unicorn Signals and get ahead of the curve! Sign Up Now & Find Your Next IPO Gem!