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byteXL, an edtech platform focused on engineering colleges, has bagged $5.9 million in a Series A funding round led by Kalaari Capital, with participation from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

Hyderabad-based byteXL aims to utilise the funds to expand its team, develop new products, introduce advanced digital tools and technologies, and expand outreach to colleges and universities nationwide. 

Founded in 2020 by Karun Tadepalli and Sricharan Tadepalli, byteXL prepares engineers for IT careers through a hybrid learning platform and a guided campus recruitment model.

“Engineering schools in India and other markets are evolving to maintain high standards of curriculum, pedagogy and industry readiness in technology disciplines that are rapidly evolving. This need, accelerated by rapid progress in AI, is a critical problem to solve to enable students to succeed in the next generation of technology jobs,” Sampath P, Partner at Kalaari Capital, said.

He added, “Karun, Charan and team have spent a long time understanding the core needs of each stakeholder involved in the delivery of technology and curriculum, and are deeply committed to improving learning outcomes and the quality of tech talent in India.”

Since its inception, byteXL has partnered with over 26 colleges and universities across India, training more than a lakh students in various software technologies including programming, emerging technologies like cybersecurity, full stack development, and cloud technologies.

According to the Hyderabad-based firm, these efforts have led to higher placement rates and increased student intake for its partner institutions.

“byteXL is transforming the teaching and learning of engineering colleges in India. By bridging the gap between academia and industry, it is set to make a significant impact on the lives of students in tier II and tier III cities,” noted Sanjay Modi, Senior Director of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

Speaking to YourStory, Karun mentioned that the business has grown by two and a half times in the last financial year and that the company is EBITDA positive. He added that the funding “is icing on the cake.”

“We have always focused on the physical classroom and how to integrate technology into it. The fundamentals of our business are very strong; we operate in the B2B sector. We have demonstrated that there is a huge market out there and that you can work effectively with colleges,” the byteXL chief elaborated.

He believes that working in collaboration with colleges and academic professionals is the only way to empower students—this is the approach one must take.

byteXL was present in five regions—Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Uttarakhand. It plans to expand to more areas. The company entered Punjab by signing up a few colleges and universities there, and it is slowly exploring colleges in other territories in South India that it hasn’t explored yet. The idea is to expand into Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

With the company’s expansion plans in full swing, it’s also gearing up to bolster its team. Currently, byteXL has a workforce of 70, including educators, but there’s more talent on the horizon to fuel its growth.

“The primary focus will be on operations, product development, and content creation—these are the three key areas. Sales must also be increased to reach these goals. We aim to grow the team four-fold in one year from now,” Karun shared.

He explained that it’s not just about skilling the students; the company also helps colleges automate many processes, from attendance to teacher-student engagement—these initiatives have aided the company’s growth.

“Everyone has realised there’s a paradigm shift in hiring practices, with colleges placing greater emphasis on learning and skill development. Regardless of the engineering discipline, understanding how to utilise AI for learning is becoming a universal requirement for employment,” Karun added.

Recently, the company collaborated with Microsoft to introduce a new BTech Computer Science Engineering course in artificial intelligence and machine learning, designed to meet current industry demands.

byteXL’s learning platform, Nimbus, offers a coding education experience in multiple languages like Python, C++, and Java. With AI capabilities, it provides real-time code improvement and error detection.

Before this funding round, byteXL raised $1 million from seven angel investors in June 2022, following an initial bootstrap investment of $200,000.

(Disclaimer: Kalaari Capital is an investor in YourStory.)