Mesa School of Business Raises INR 110 Crore in Equity and Debt Funding

Mesa School of Business, a startup-focused business school and edtech company, has raised INR 110 crore in equity and debt funding. The round comprises 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 funding round values it at INR 385 crore. Mesa is also backed by founders and entrepreneurs, including Kunal Shah of CRED, Vidit Aatrey and Abhiraj Bhal of Meesho and Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm.

The proceeds will be used to build an AI-first curriculum for existing programmes, launch and scale new programmes, and develop strategic partnerships across the startup ecosystem.

Mesa Expands AI-First Business Education

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. Its focus is on preparing students for leadership and entrepreneurship in an AI-first world.

As part of its learning approach, 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 more than 550 students across three programmes.

These include a one-year Post Graduate Programme in Startup Leadership, a four-year undergraduate programme in business and entrepreneurship and Forge, a one-year programme designed for fresh graduates.

Startup Projects and Industry Exposure Drive Learning

More than 100 founders have taught on campus, while students have worked on over 200 projects with startups. The school aims to connect classroom learning with practical experience and exposure to startup operations.

According to the company, students from its first two postgraduate cohorts secured an average cost to company (CTC) of INR 26 lakh, while the top 25% recorded an average CTC of INR 36.5 lakh. All placed students joined startups, including Zomato, Zepto, Urban Company, Scapia and Comet. The company said 58% of these students took up founder-facing roles.

Student Startups Raise Over INR 25 Crore

Nearly 20% of Mesa graduates have become entrepreneurs, according to the company. More than 50 student startups are currently incubated at Mesa Startup Lab, its in-house residency programme. These startups have collectively raised over INR 25 crore in funding and grants and have an annual revenue run-rate of more than INR 50 crore, the company said.