Ace Education raises $4.6M from Kaizen Private Equity
Kaizen Private Equity LLC, India’s first private equity fund focused on $86 billion education sector in India is leading a Rs 24 crore or $4.6 million round in the Bangalore based Ace Creative Learning Private Limited.
ACE provides training and guidance to students preparing for various engineering and medical entrance examinations. It previously raised funds from Accel partners, Catamaran and few angel investors for its Series A round of investment, who will be funding for the current around as well. Kaizen will also be appointing a nominee on the board of the company.
Ace creative learning plans to expand beyond Karnataka and Kaizen Private Equity are supporting their growth plans. Ace has also shortlisted a few location to spread over the next couple of years. Masterkey Holdings, the Bangalore based boutique investment bank has been sole advisors to Ace learning.
Ace learning has been providing comprehensive training for the IITJEE, AIEEE, AIPMT, FMS and NTSE for more than 10 years since its inception in 1998. The company also offers an online platform for students to attend lectures and study at their homes.
Dr Ganpathy Sridhar, the founder of Ace creative learning obtained his B. Tech from IIT Kharagpur in 1989 and later completed his PhD from The Johns Hopkins University. Today, team Ace consists of 450 members including experienced faculty members who are graduates from the IIT, experienced retired professors from reputed institutes and doctorates from India & the US.A dynamic team of professional deliver high quality education across various teaching environment.
“With education as our focus, we have been looking for high-end companies with a differentiated edge. Ace has doubled its IIT JEE ranks and increased AIEEE ranks by 50 per cent last year, alongside ensuring students are also receiving a balanced preparation for their school board examinations. This success in ranks is because of the company’s ability to attract good students and more effective teaching methodology,” quoted Sandeep Aneja, Founder and Managing Director of Kaizen Management Advisors on joining hands with ace learning private limited.
In June 2011, Kaizen closed its maiden fund at Rs 400 crore. With a keen focus on education sector, it invested RS 25 crore ($4.5million) in Altus Learning pvt ltd, a company providing management and other service form playschools to K-12 segment.
Previously, Kaizen has invested in the corporate day care services firm Your Kids ‘R’ our kids (India) Pvt ltd. It also funded the distance education provider Universal training solutions (UTS) a few years ago. Ace creative learning is the fourth disclosed investment by this education focused investment company.
-Hitesh, vcBytes
