JobTech Startup Masai School Raises $10 Million In Series B

Bengaluru-based startup Masai School on Tuesday announced its latest USD 10 million fundraise in its Series B round, which was led by Omidyar Network India along with existing investors including India Quotient and Unitus Ventures, with the addition of Alteria Capital. 

The latest round of funding also saw the participation from two of Indian sporting icons, former Indian captain Mithali Raj and the legendary footballer Bhaichung Bhutia, as investors and partners for an undisclosed amount. 

The company said that the latest fund infusion will enable the company to launch two new course categories while also enabling the expansion of their flagship “zero-to-one” skilling course in Software Development and Data Analytics. 

Speaking of the fundraise, Prateek Shukla, CEO and Co-founder, Masai School said, “This is an opportune time for us to pick up our series B funding and we are excited to work with our new partners and our current investors alike. Our mission remains to build the country’s largest employable tech workforce.”

During an event, the company also launched its first up-skilling course, MasaiX., which aims at fast tracking growth for software developers in India to meet demand of tech professionals in Global Capability Centres and Sr. Software Developer roles.

“The last three years have been proof of our competency in bridging the tech skill gap for over 800 tech companies who have hired more than 2000 alumni,” added Shukla. 

Masai also launched a Scholar Program, targeted at college students to supplement their college education with industry necessary skills. The Scholar Program, which is a prepaid program, is being rolled out by the company's subsidiary, Prepleaf, acquired by Masai in December 2021. 

These programs, along with Masai’s existing offering, Masai 0NE, will be supported by two scholarships that are being enabled by Bhaichung Bhutia and Mithali Raj.

Speaking at the press event, Mithali Raj said, “The common thought in India is that when a woman chooses her sporting career, her personal life takes a backseat. However, with Masai, every individual gets yet another chance to have another career option apart from sports and excel in it. 

“Access to quality education should be a fundamental right, irrespective of spending potential. And I commend Masai for creating India’s largest outcome-driven higher education institute that identifies untapped talent and makes them job-ready through a pay after placement mode. I am delighted to partner with a brand like Masai that is making a tangible contribution to the future of the youth in this country,” Bhaichung said during the event,

The two sporting icons also announced ‘Mithali Raj Scholarship for Women in Tech’ and ‘Bhaichung Scholarship for Extracurricular Excellence’, which will avail financial aid of Rs 1.5 crore in financial aid for students studying at Masai per year. The scholarship would be distributed based on academic performance and extracurricular credentials, respectively. 

In 2021, Masai School raised its Series A round worth USD 5 million led by Omidyar Network India. Investors who participated in the round included Unitus Ventures, India Quotient and AngelList. 

BW Businessworld asked Masai School CEO Prateek Shukla on how the startup managed to raise despite the current funding winter. “I think we might have struggled had we started our fundraising process a bit late because the times have changed and is now changing on a daily basis. But I think luckily for us, there are existing investors who believed in our mission and vision. They understand what we are doing and how we are doing it,” he said.

The startup has also raised funds in 2021 through angel investors such as Kunal Shah of Cred, Paytm’s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Delhivery’s Mohit Tandon and Tracxn’s Abhishek Goyal.

“Fundamentally, we always try to build business more profitably and stay focused on being cash flow positive every month. So, I think these are the few core fundamental principles that they appreciate about how we are executing things at Masai,” Shukla added.

Masai claims to have placed more than 2,000 students across 25 batches that have graduated, with a placement rate of over 94 per cent with an average CTC of Rs 7.5 lakh per annum. 

The company has also reportedly enabled student placements in some of the most sought-after engineering teams in India, including companies such as Ola, Swiggy, Meesho, Capgemini, Paytm, Dream 11, GlobalLogic and ShareChat. 

Masai currently has 7000 students enrolled in its active batches.