India’s foremost career counseling company raises growth capital from leading impact investors
New Delhi, iDreamCareer (iDC), a leading edtech venture delivering a one-stop personalized career navigation solution, today announced it has received Rs. 12.5 crore in a round led by Menterra Social Impact Fund. The round saw participation from Swiss-based Artha Impact and follow-on participation from existing investors Atlanta, US based Gray Matters Capital (GMC).
Indian students even now depend on peer and family for their career decisions with career guidance & counselling not available to most. 93% of Indian schools don’t have any counsellors impacting better higher education & career choices, particularly less privileged students. iDC’s solutions address this gap and help students make better, informed career choices.
iDreamCareer will use the funds to add features like a one-stop university application, scholarship & financing to its’ offering, expand the leadership team and implement advanced technology interventions which supported by a best-in-class counselling program will widen and deepen the impact of its work.
Ayush Bansal, Founder, iDreamCareer (iDC), said “Over the last 10 years we have partnered several multilateral organizations, governments agencies and corporates to deliver career counselling solutions to 20+ million students. This investment will help us build a leading career navigation solution focused on the future of work and studies.”
According to Mukesh Sharma, Head of Investments, Menterra,“This investment in iDC is to address the disparity faced by students, especially from poorer families and smaller towns to access quality information and counselling while making their education and career choices.”
In her comments, Smita Sircar, CEO of GMC, said, “We’re delighted to make a follow-on investment in iDreamCareer. It continues to be a compelling impact investment for GMC, as 85% of the career counsellors are women and the B2C offering enables girls to pursue a path towards meaningful employment of their choice.”
Menterra Social Impact Fund has been focused on improving the access to affordable education. It invests in social enterprises addressing the biggest developmental challenges in agriculture, healthcare, and education by aligning private, patient capital with these development goals. Menterra brings together the best impact-oriented entrepreneurial talent through its investments that generate commercial returns alongside deep, credible and long-lasting impact on vulnerable segments of our society. Do visit https://www.menterra.com/.
Gray Matters Capital (GMC) is an impact investor in the global south with a mission to enable 100 million women on their unique path to a purposeful life. Founded by serial entrepreneur Bob Patillo, GMC has deep roots in microfinance and education finance that have demonstrated profit with purpose. Over two decades, GMC has played the role of an impact bridge enabling the convergence of high social impact with strong financial returns and building sustainable and replicable business models that are scalable to other markets.
GMC invests in early-stage entrepreneurs & impact funds, seeds new ventures to fill market gaps, pioneers alternate financing approaches and collaborates with partners to achieve our mission. Through investments in 78+ enterprises, it has found purpose with 21 million low-resourced women and girls in the areas of learning, skilling, economic participation, and well-being. Do visit https://graymatterscap.com/.
iDreamCareer (iDC), founded by Ayush Bansal in 2012, helps students effectively navigate their higher education and career options through a one-stop personalized career navigation solution. It has been recognized as among world’s top 200 Edtech companies by ASUGSV Summit 2020 & the top 100 EdTech companies in South Asia by Holon IQ 2020.
iDreamCareer works with high school & undergrad college students via its full-stack career & college guidance product that includes 1,000+ hours of content on careers, colleges, exams, scholarships, reliable & validated psychometric assessment tools & personalized counselling. Its’ current reach is 20 million+ students across India and the Middle East. iDreamCareer along with its non-profit vertical Aasman Foundation works with UNICEF, UNDP, CSR arm of Hero, Kotak, Ernst & Young among others to make career guidance accessible to students from low-income families.
This article was shared with Prittle Prattle News as a Press Release.
