Gaja invests $25m in India's Educational Initiatives
Gaja Capital has made a commitment of $25 million to Educational Initiatives (EI), an India-based developer of educational technology and assessment tools.
Gaja's investment comprises a mix of primary and secondary shares, according to a media report posted on the firm’s website. The new capital will be used to improve its technology platforms, expand its product portfolio, and enter new markets.
EI was founded in 2001 and is best known for ASSET, its flagship school assessment product that is taken by over 380,000 K-12 students each year in India and overseas. It also provides other assessment and teaching tools, such as Mindspark, a self-directed learning platform focused on math and English.
The company claims teachers and schools have used its products to assess more than 14 million students worldwide. In addition to India, EI has a presence in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Singapore, and the US. In addition, it has partnered with the government of Bhutan to conduct teacher and student assessments.
Gaja is currently investing its third fund, which launched in 2013 and closed in 2016 at $240 million. The firm targets sectors that leverage domestic consumption growth, with particular focus on education, financial services, and healthcare, seeking both majority and minority stakes.
Its education portfolio includes fitness start-up SportzVillage, which it acquired in 2015 for INR650 million ($10 million), along with preschool chain Eurokids and test preparation services provider CL Educate. The GP partially exited the latter company in its INR2.4 billion IPO last year.
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