Noida-based edtech startup AdmitKard has raised $1 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Australia-based edtech fund Growth DNA and other investors based out of Australia and India.

Piyush Bhartiya, cofounder, AdmitKard said the company will use the funds to enhance its product and strengthen its AI-driven counseling algorithms and blockchain managed partner contracts. Bhartiya also said that the company plans to expand its presence across 100 cities in India.

Founded in 2016 by Bhartiya and Rachit Agarwal, AdmitKard provides a course to career solution for students who are looking for cross-border admissions into universities and colleges. The company claims to use the concept of near-peer mentoring and uses AI/ML to assist decision making. Aspirants of foriegn education are connected to current students in universities abroad over the AdmitKard platform for the most accurate, current and unbiased advice.

The company claims to have partnered with multiple service providers ranging from Test Prep, student accommodation, education loans, banking, forex etc. making it a complete solution for every student seeking to study abroad.

The company has listed over 100K courses and claims to 95% of the global requirement of international students.

Dheeraj Bhatia, cofounder of Kips Learning Solutions, who led the deal from India, said, The AdmitKard approach of product and network is the key to solve the scalability issue of this domain and will enable us to serve students from around the world

As the push for international study picks up pace in the country, every year more than 5 Mn students seek cross border admissions with majority of them travelling to USA, UK, Europe, Australia and Canada collectively paying more than $100 Bn in fees and another $25 Bn in all allied services. The company competes with the likes of SchoolApply, CollegeVine, CollegeDekho, College Dunia, Shiksha Abroad, HotCourses Abroad among others.

According to DataLabs by Inc42, there were 3,500 edtech startups in India in 2018. Between 2014 and 2018, 182 edtech startups were funded with a total of $1.34 Bn, so the investor interest has remained high for edtech.

Indian edtech segment is expected to be a $1.96 Bn market by 2021. Some of the leading players include BYJUS, Unacademy, Toppr etc.