HCL Group invests ₹166 cr in edtech Educational Initiatives

B2B education software firm Educational Initiatives (Ei) has announced that software major HCL Group has invested ₹166 crore to acquire a minority stake.

Founded in 2001, Ei provides schools with research-backed assessments (Ei Asset and Ei Cares) and personalised adaptive learning solutions (Ei Mindspark) to improve learning outcomes at scale. The company is present in India, the UAE, South Africa, and Singapore. It has over a million paid users.

“We have demonstrated our ability to improve learning outcomes and empower school teachers to achieve their intent of every child learning well regardless of their parent income. I’m excited to welcome HCL Group as investors who share our vision of leveraging the best of pedagogy and technology to improve learning outcomes for millions of students in India and around the world,” said Pranav Kothari, CEO, Ei.

Shikhar Malhotra, Director, HCL Group, said, “We’re thrilled to invest in Ei; it is a great organisation with technological prowess and a commitment to effecting positive societal change. The organisation offers a distinctive blend of scalable technology, impactful social initiatives, and sustainable growth.”

• Also read: HCL Technologies launches AI Force

The Bengaluru-based company is looking to expand in South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Saudi Arabia through business partnerships.

It has developed offerings like Ei Asset Arabic to meet regional needs

“Ei is a rare example of resilience, high growth, pedagogy and technology coming together in their vision of solving one of the biggest problems of our age — helping every child learn with understanding,” said Gopal Jain, Managing Partner at Gaja Capital.