Anand Mahindra, others invest Rs 4 crore in education startup NEST

Key Highlights

• NEST is an educational support facility that operates Alphabyte - The Learning Centre.
• The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Anand Mahindra, Chairman and Managing Director of the Mahindra Group are the current investors of the company.
• Since 2006, NEST claimed that the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has invested more than Rs 1,100 crores in non-profits and social enterprises.

Education centre, Naandi Education Support & Training (NEST) on Wednesday announced that it has raised Rs 4 crore from current investors in its latest round of funding.

“Naandi Education Support & Training (NEST), a technology-driven, social impact focused company, recently secured a follow on funding of  Rs 4 crore (approx. $ 600,000) from its current investors, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Anand Mahindra, Chairman and Managing Director of the Mahindra Group,” the company said.

The group owns and operates high quality learning centres for less privileged children under the brand name, Alphabyte- The Learning Centre. It was founded in 1999.

Since 2006, NEST claimed that the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has invested more than Rs 1,100 crores in non-profits and social enterprises in India.

“With a unique ‘Tech-N-Brick’ education model, Alphabyte aims to significantly raise education quality across urban India. At Alphabyte, technology is seamlessly used to fast track learning of every student through customised learning modules that are curated from the best knowledge providers and pedagogies across the globe. With this round of funding, NEST will be able to grow its outreach to a larger number of students and achieve its goal of educating 10,000 students by FY 2022,” the company said.

Anand Mahindra, Chairman and Managing Director of the Mahindra Group, while supporting NEST’s new initiative said, "I strongly believe that entrepreneurial efforts like NEST that combine technology and centre based coaching to aspiring children and youth is the best way to upgrade the human capital in our country today."

"We at NEST work towards building an empowered society by creating learning opportunities for different teaching-learning age groups, leveraging best possible Ed-Tech solutions globally. Continued support from our investors and their understanding of social challenges are definitely vital to our motivation and adds value to our operations.” said, Rahul Ranjan, CEO and Director of NEST.