Clever Harvey, one of India’s career acceleration platforms for teenagers, has raised US$ 1.5 million in a pre-series A round. The funding round was led by TechNova Ventures along with Tom Varkey and Multiply Ventures and included the Company’s existing investor, Education Catalyst Fund.
Clever Harvey, the B2C vertical of Callido Learning, had launched its flagship “JuniorMBA” series of career discovery programs for teenagers last year. It plans to use the new funds to expand its product portfolio, onboard key talent, strengthen its marketing outreach and build distribution channels within and beyond India.
Serving a market of young adults from ages 14 to 18, who are at an important decision-making juncture of selecting colleges, academic streams, and course subjects, Clever Harvey offers curated case studies in business strategy, marketing, technology, data analysis, UX design, and social media, that allow students to “test-drive” options for future career paths. All programs are live, cohort-based, and online.
In a recent development, Clever Harvey introduced several new industry-certified programs in conjunction with leading brands – ‘JuniorMBA Marketing’ in collaboration with PUMA, ‘JuniorMBA Strategy’ in partnership with Samsonite, and ‘JuniorMBA Technology’ together with Infinity Cars. Since its inception in April 2020, the Edtech platform has graduated over 6,000 students and seen strong acceptance from parents for this new category.
Sriram Subramanian, Founder and CEO, Clever Harvey said, “We are making ‘career discovery’ easier by giving teenagers a ‘behind-the-scenes’ exposure of various industry roles through short, immersive, and fun cohort-based programs. Students meet online in small groups of ten, with focused teacher/facilitator interaction and collaborate with peers from across the country to solve live case studies. Our programs guide teenagers in making academic & career choices that are better aligned with their interests and passion.”
Sheena Parikh, Founder, TechNova Ventures and Joint MD, TechNova Group said, “We are excited to partner with Clever Harvey as they offer a truly unique proposition in the EdTech ecosystem. They are tapping into a blue ocean with high-quality, differentiated, value-added products. The Junior MBA programs have received tremendous response and we are very optimistic about future growth.”
Raveen Sastry, Founder, Multiply Ventures added, “Digitisation and new tech are creating new opportunities and career streams. Clever Harvey’s vision is to bridge the gap between academics and the real world. Their programs help students develop essential skills for success, like critical thinking, decision making, planning and having an entrepreneurial mindset. This resonated well with our fund’s Edtech thesis.”