Ignis Careers raises $ 150,000 from Gray Matters Capital’s edLABS

Ignis Careers, a Hyderabad-based social enterprise providing capacity-building programmes for teachers in government and affordable private schools , has developed a digital platform for imparting its Life Skills training programme targeting first generation learners from low income communities.

This comes on the back of $ 150,000 funding from Atlanta head quartered education sector focused investor Gray Matters Capital through its edLABS initiative, paving the way for it to digitize the teacher manuals for improving classroom delivery efficiency. Using customised content and interactive technology, the Life Skills curriculum integrates English language learning to help students not just get acquainted with the language but also prepare them for employment opportunities in the future.

“We aim at breathing purpose into the Indian education system, weaning it away from practices of rote learning and mindless focus on marks. Our life skills focus would empower students with critical thinking, advocacy skills, situation adaptability skills and self-management skills so that the students would go on to build a purposeful life. By improving their English skills along with life skills, they learn to seek and access information for themselves, and eventually learn to make informed decisions in life,” said Rennis Joseph, Co-Founder and CEO, Ignis Careers.

Currently present in 9 centres in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Delhi, Ignis Careers’ curriculum has been adopted by more than 200 schools benefiting nearly 57,000 students through capacity building of 1788 teachers. Post the funding and the development of the digital platform, Ignis Careers will look to expand its presence to 16 more centres by FY 2021.

Ignis Careers runs a Rural Teacher Fellowship program in partnership with Venture Capital Fund - Acumen and HDFC Bank, wherein teachers are recruited from the communities targeted for impact and trained in English skills and best-in-class teaching practices. Gray Matters Capital is the anchor investor in CBA Capital’s $ 20 million education sector focused fund – Education Catalyst Fund which has recently invested in professional education platform Imarticus Learning.