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byteXL's
proven model for scaling tech and AI skilling across India's Tier-2 and Tier-3
engineering colleges is helping more students translate their education into
employment.
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This
continued backing stands out at a time when overall edtech funding has slowed,
underscoring the strength, traction and impact of byteXL's model
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Last
year, 7,600 byteXL graduates were placed in IT and engineering roles; byteXL
now plans to expand its reach from 200,000 to 500,000 students across 15 states
over the next two years
Hyderabad: byteXL has raised USD 9 million in its latest funding
round, led by Elevar Equity, with participation from Kalaari
Capital and The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. The
investment builds on the existing investors’ earlier funding of the company in
July 2024, supporting byteXL’s continued work to strengthen pathways from
engineering education to employment and reaffirming their conviction in its
vision and demonstrated ability to scale industry-aligned tech and AI skilling
across India.
Founded
by brothers Karun and Sricharan Tadepalli, byteXL works with engineering
colleges to bring industry-relevant technology and AI learning into the college
experience, giving more students opportunities to build practical skills
alongside their degrees and translate their education into strong careers.
The new round of investment marks a significant milestone for the
company as it scales its unique hybrid model that helps students build
industry-relevant skills alongside their engineering education, priming them to
be job-ready from day one. Its B2B learning model works directly with
engineering colleges, particularly across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, to
integrate IT and AI-driven skilling along with regular academic curriculum.
Rather than treating skilling as an add-on, byteXL embeds industry-aligned curriculum,
hands-on learning, technology platforms and trained educators into the
student’s learning journey. This approach is creating stronger pathways from
education to employment: last year alone, 7,600 byteXL graduates were placed in
IT and engineering roles.
Mr.
Sandeep Farias, Founder & Managing Partner, Elevar Equity, said, “At Elevar, our
investment approach is centered on backing scalable models that accelerate the
economic momentum of Entrepreneurial Households (EHs). Quality education and
employability are among the highest-priority investments for EHs, particularly
across Tier-2 and Tier-3 communities. What stands out to us is byteXL’s
institutional integration and clear potential to build a highly scalable,
differentiated platform that empowers the next generation of tech talent across
non-metro India.”
Mr Gaurav Jain, Head of University
Success, India, The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, said, “For many young people
from underserved communities, an engineering degree represents more than a
qualification; it represents the possibility of a better economic future
through a well-paying job and strong career. That is why byteXL’s work with
engineering colleges across India's tier 2 & 3 cities matters to us. These
institutions are home to many first-generation college students who see higher
education as a pathway to greater opportunity for themselves and their
families. byteXL complements that by bringing industry-aligned, hands-on
technology and AI learning directly into the college experience, helping
students get hired and keep moving forward in their careers. Our continued
investment will expand access to more students and help them turn their
education into meaningful employment, career progression and greater economic
mobility.”
Speaking
on the new round of investment in byteXL, Sampath P, Partner, Kalaari
Capital, said, “Our second round of investment in byteXL,
reflects the conviction we have developed in both the team and the opportunity
they are tapping. byteXL’s differentiation lies in its unique model and
proprietary technology platform, enabling it to work within the existing
college system and make industry-relevant technology education a part of the
student’s four-year journey, rather than an additional layer of training.
byteXL is able to address a large and underserved requirement by working within
the existing engineering education ecosystem and not re-invent the wheel. Our
confidence in byteXL also comes from rapid growth in business over the last few
years and its ability to achieve profitability.”
Speaking
on the development, Karun Tadepalli, Co-Founder & CEO, byteXL, “This
fundraise is a strong validation of the growth we have built at byteXL and the
confidence our investors have placed in our business and the long-term
opportunity. Over the last few years, we have grown from establishing our model
with engineering institutions to building a scalable business in the skilling
space. The continued backing from our existing investors reflects their
confidence in our execution and the strength of the opportunity ahead. As we
enter our next phase of growth, our focus will be on expanding our
institutional footprint, deepening our technology and AI capabilities, and
building byteXL into a larger and more impactful player in India’s technology
education ecosystem.”
The
company will use the new capital to expand its institutional footprint across
India, strengthen its AI and technology-led learning platform, expand its
academic and delivery capabilities, and develop new industry-aligned skilling
programmes. byteXL plans to grow its presence from 40 institutions to 120
institutions over the next 2 years, while expanding its reach from 2 lakh
students to 5 lakh students across 15 states of India.
A
significant focus of the investment will be on market expansion, product and
technology development, including AI-enabled learning and assessment, student
analytics, personalised learning tools and other digital capabilities designed
to improve learning outcomes at scale. byteXL will also deepen its academic and
institutional partnership teams, enabling it to work with a larger network of
colleges and reach more students while maintaining the quality of
implementation and learner experience.
byteXL’s
latest fundraise, for which LoEstro Advisors acted as the financial advisors,
follows its $5.9 million Series A round in July 2024, also led by Kalaari
Capital, with participation from the Dell Foundation. The capital was used to
expand the team, accelerate product development, introduce new digital tools
and technologies, and expand its outreach to colleges and universities across
India. The latest round represents a larger bet on the scalability of byteXL’s
institutional model and its ability to build a sustainable technology-skilling
business that helps more students across India translate their engineering
education into meaningful employment.