Mesa School of Business Raises INR 110 Cr in Equity and Debt
Mesa School of Business raises INR 110 crore in equity and debt, co-led by Dharana Capital and Elevation Capital.
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Mesa School of Business, a startup-focused business school and edtech company, has raised INR 110 crore, comprising around INR 85 crore in Series A equity funding co-led by Dharana Capital and existing investor Elevation Capital, and INR 25 crore in venture debt from InnoVen Capital and Alteria Capital. The company said the round values it at INR 385 crore. It is also backed by founders including Kunal Shah of CRED, Vidit Aatrey and Abhiraj Bhal of Meesho, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm.
The proceeds will go toward building an AI-first curriculum for existing programmes, launching and scaling new programmes, and building strategic partnerships with the startup ecosystem.
Co-founded in 2023 by Ankit Agarwal and Varun Limaye, the Bengaluru-based school offers residential programmes for undergraduates, fresh graduates and early-career professionals, aiming to prepare students for leadership and entrepreneurship in an AI-first world. Every student builds and runs a small business and learns to use AI to develop and launch a technology product. Mesa has grown from a single postgraduate cohort to over 550 students across three programmes: a one-year Post Graduate Programme in Startup Leadership, a four-year undergraduate programme in business and entrepreneurship, and Forge, a one-year programme for fresh graduates.
Over 100 founders have taught on campus, and students have worked on more than 200 projects with startups. According to the company, students from its first two postgraduate cohorts secured an average CTC of INR 26 lakh, with the top 25% averaging INR 36.5 lakh. All placed students joined startups, including Zomato, Zepto, Urban Company, Scapia and Comet, with 58% taking up founder-facing roles. Nearly 20% of graduates have become entrepreneurs, and more than 50 student startups are currently incubated at Mesa Startup Lab, its in-house residency programme, which have collectively raised over INR 25 crore in funding and grants and have an annual revenue run-rate of over INR 50 crore.
Mesa School of Business, a startup-focused business school and edtech company, has raised INR 110 crore, comprising around INR 85 crore in Series A equity funding co-led by Dharana Capital and existing investor Elevation Capital, and INR 25 crore in venture debt from InnoVen Capital and Alteria Capital. The company said the round values it at INR 385 crore. It is also backed by founders including Kunal Shah of CRED, Vidit Aatrey and Abhiraj Bhal of Meesho, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm.
The proceeds will go toward building an AI-first curriculum for existing programmes, launching and scaling new programmes, and building strategic partnerships with the startup ecosystem.
Co-founded in 2023 by Ankit Agarwal and Varun Limaye, the Bengaluru-based school offers residential programmes for undergraduates, fresh graduates and early-career professionals, aiming to prepare students for leadership and entrepreneurship in an AI-first world. Every student builds and runs a small business and learns to use AI to develop and launch a technology product. Mesa has grown from a single postgraduate cohort to over 550 students across three programmes: a one-year Post Graduate Programme in Startup Leadership, a four-year undergraduate programme in business and entrepreneurship, and Forge, a one-year programme for fresh graduates.
