India Inc. backs global teacher accreditation platform CENTA; to launch Teaching as a Service (TaaS)
CENTA, India’s leading teacher accreditation platform and the largest of its kind globally, has announced its next fund-raising achievement, receiving support from 30 distinguished industry leaders. The funding round, a testament to the platform’s potential and its mission to make teaching aspirational, reflects the trust and commitment of some of the industry’s most influential names, whether a Leo Puri from the financial sector or a Pankaj Sahni or Sam Mehta from healthcare, or a Bahram Vakil, one of India’s topmost corporate lawyers, or a seasoned investor like Nikhil Mohta of ICICI Ventures or Arindam Bose of Vitta Holdings UAE or Nitin Jain from Grandwood family office UK.
Backed by renowned VCs such as Omidyar Network, Discovery Assets, Pi Ventures LLP, and 3i Partners, CENTA, an already profitable leader in teacher certification and upskilling, serving 1.5 million teachers across the globe, will use the USD 1 million funding to pioneer the world’s inaugural “Teaching as a Service” (TaaS) initiative. TaaS seeks to provide on-demand teaching services to national and international educational institutions as well as support state and national governments.
Teachers worldwide are now actively seeking both professional growth and supplementary income streams, a demand that is substantiated by CENTA’s own survey findings. Simultaneously, in a rapidly evolving education landscape, employers, including edtech companies, schools, and governments, are increasingly augmenting their teaching capacity with part-time and online instructors. CENTA’s TaaS platform, fueled by this substantial investment, bridges these two essential elements, enabling both teachers and educational institutions to seamlessly adapt to evolving teaching paradigms. This innovation not only positions CENTA as a global pioneer but also taps into an immense, yet untapped, market estimated to be worth $18 billion.
“We are making teaching a top-of-the-agenda item for everyone, and in this fundraising effort, we’ve aimed to include representation from a diverse spectrum of sectors. This funding represents a vote of confidence in our mission and underscores the power of teachers as both catalysts of social impact and engines of economic growth,” says Ramya Venkataraman, founder and CEO of CENTA, who has taken a unique approach to bringing a high-powered group together.
The funding will also be directed towards further enhancing the tech capabilities of CENTA’s existing platform that certifies teachers’ competencies, supports rapid upskilling works with employers on teaching careers, and is already being used by more than 1.1 million teachers from 131 countries.
There is an acute shortage of qualified and certified teachers across the world. A recent World Bank report underscores the need for 70 million more teachers across the globe by 2030. Moreover, both UNESCO and World Bank underscore the profound impact of teacher quality on student learning and well-being, with the transition from an average teacher to an exceptional one resulting in significant learning improvements equivalent to several years of formal education. As AI becomes ubiquitous in business, akin to the Internet today, it is crucial to equip teachers with the skills and tools to prepare future innovators.
Prem Kumar, former MD of HCL Infosystems, said, “The growth of CENTA is the natural outcome of a well thought out strategy one that is catering to unmet needs of the target audience”.
Bahram Vakil said that CENTA is “catering to a vital need of the country and world”, while Moomal Mehta, Founder at Crossover Catalyst emphasised the “rapid growth in a short time frame, sharp focus and high integrity” of the company.
CENTA at a glance:
· Impacting the lives of over 1.5 mn teachers through its various initiatives
· Over 1.1mn teachers from more than 131 countries upskill and network on CENTA platform
· 100,000+ schools are present on CENTA’s platform, using it for teacher testing, training, recruiting
· Partnered with 16 state governments to certify, train and/or provide teachers on request
· Profitable company with 3X y-o-y growth and 20% PBT
· Started by Ramya, an IIT-IIM alumni, after a 15-year global career with McKinsey & Company
India Inc.’s engagement goes beyond financial considerations, signifying the crucial role teachers play in advancing India and the global community. CENTA distinguishes itself in the new economy landscape with a unique focus on both revenue generation and cost management from its inception. While pioneering a new sector, CENTA has also attained profitability along with scaling.