Entri.app, a Kochi-based online learning app that empowers aspirants through its local language courses, has raised $7 million in Series A round of funding led by Omidyar Network India, with participation from Boston-based Innospark Ventures and Integrated Capital, a Hong Kong-based private equity.
This round of funding follows the company's $3.1 million seed round and brings the total capital raised to $10.1 million.
Angel investors Gokul Rajaram, a board member of Pinterest and Coinbase, and Sriram Krishnan, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z), a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, also participated in the round among others.
In an official statement, the startup said the funds raised will be utilised for content development across existing and new languages, senior-level hirings, and strategic acquisitions that will accelerate Entri’s growth.
Mohammed Hisamuddin, Founder and CEO, Entri.app, said,
“Entri.app is focused on the non-English speaking segment in India which has over 40 crore people in the age group of 18-35. We feel that with the right kind of training and learning in their mother tongue, they can improve their employability chances and increase earning capabilities. We are focused on this segment and firmly believe we can impact more than four crore users' lives in the next three years with the kind of headstart we have got.”
Launched in 2017 by Mohammed Hisamuddin and Rahul Ramesh, Entri.app claims to have over eight million registered users with more than 250,000 paid subscribers. It offers 500+ courses in eight languages – Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, and Odiya – to help aspirants prepare for different government job exams as well as improve their private job prospects.
Some of its most popular course categories are Coding, Personal Finance, Spoken English, State PSC Exams, Nursing Certifications, Teacher Exams, and Engineering Technical Exams, among others.
The company offers cohort-based courses called Entri Gold which connects a batch of students with an expert mentor who speaks their local language. The mentor ensures that the batch of aspirants achieve their goal through live interactive classes, analytics, community group activities and personalised guidance. More than 25,000 students claim to have cracked a government job exam with the help of the Entri Gold program.
“Entri.app has made great progress in terms of the variety of courses offered, number of local languages catered to, and the number of students taking up the offering. We are excited to back the team at Entri.app as they march on their mission to become the #1 learning destination for ‘next half billion’ users to improve their employability and earning capabilities,” said Sarvesh Kanodia, Principal, Omidyar Network India.
Entri.app has partnered with diverse content creators (both online and offline) like coaching institutes, educators, and influencers to generate quality content. The company has so far signed up 30 influencers in different languages with a combined following of 20 million subscribers for their skilling courses and are targeting to sign up 100 more in 2022. As part of its creator model, Entri.app has also recently acquired the TS Madaan YouTube channel, one of India’s largest skilling YouTube channels with more than 11 million subscribers.
“Unlike other education/learning apps that focus on academics and classes, Entri.app is focused on courses that help build practical, tangible skills and help people find jobs. Their mission is incredibly foundational for India and Indians, and I couldn't be prouder to be involved in their journey,” added Gokul Rajaram, board member at Pinterest and Coinbase.
Edited by Anju Narayanan