The company will use the funds to introduce new categories in the test preparation segment, such as study abroad programs, tutoring courses, career counseling programs, and finance test preparations and of business.

The startup also plans to hire around 160 teaching and non-teaching staff over the next 12 months.

Founded in 2016 by Gaurav Goel, Karan Mehta and Harsh Gagrani, Toprankers offers courses in the test prep segment focusing on law, court services and state exams, management test prep exams like the Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUET) and Design, Fashion. and architectural entry tests such as the National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA).

It offers these courses under different brands such as LegalEdge, JudiciaryGold, SuperGrads and CreativeEdge.

“Our goal is to be a fully-fledged career company. We try to help students answer what and how to study. NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) and JEE (Joint Entrance Exam) are not the only career options and throughout the platform we prove that there are many successful careers out there,” Goel told ET.

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The funds will also be used to set up around 25 offline centres, including one in Kota, Rajasthan, and in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The startup currently has around ten offline centers under its Toprankers Hybrid brand.

“We launched something called hybrid toprankers six months ago and we’re seeing a lot of traction from that. Setting up an offline center costs between Rs 50 and 60 lakh,” Goel added.

Edtech platforms including PhysicsWallah, Cuemath, Vedantu, Unacademy, and Byju’s are also expanding or building an offline presence.

Toprankers is also looking to make acquisitions in the study abroad and career counseling segments.

“We are in active discussion with two offline institutes. We are considering acquisitions in the career guidance and discovery, finance and study abroad categories. Our first acquisition will take place within the next 12 months,” added Goel.

Toprankers claims to have helped more than two lakh students start their careers and aims to create careers for 10 lakh students in the next three years.

“CUET will potentially create a huge test prep vertical. Being one of the first to deliver an active product allows Toprankers to capitalize on this opportunity,” said Nimisha Nagarsekar, Investment Partner, Sixth Sense Ventures.

Toprankers has an annualized revenue rate of $3 million and expects to double that over the next 12 months. Goel added that the business had already become profitable.