byteXL Raises $9M Series B to Scale AI Skilling in India's Engineering Colleges

byteXL, a Hyderabad edtech company that embeds technology and AI training into engineering college coursework, has raised $9 million in a Series B round led by Elevar Equity. Existing investors Kalaari Capital and The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation also participated, Inc42 reported.

The round follows a $5.9 million Series A in July 2024 and arrives as Indian engineering colleges face pressure to produce graduates who can work with AI tools from their first day on the job.

What byteXL Does

Founded in 2019 by brothers Karun and Sricharan Tadepalli, byteXL sells to colleges, not to students. It is a B2B company that partners with institutions to deliver industry-relevant technology and AI training as part of the regular curriculum, so students build job-ready skills alongside their degree instead of paying for a separate course afterward.

That model targets a long-standing gap in Indian higher education. The country graduates engineers in large numbers, but employers have repeatedly said many lack practical skills. The problem is sharpest outside the top-tier institutes, where access to current tools, industry projects and experienced instructors is limited.

byteXL Growth and Placement Numbers

byteXL currently works with 40 institutions and reaches about 200,000 students. In 2025, 7,600 of its graduates secured IT and engineering jobs, a figure the company points to as evidence that the training translates into employment.

Its targets for the next two years are ambitious: 120 institutions and 500,000 students across 15 Indian states. That would triple its college network and more than double its student base.

How byteXL Will Use the $9M

The company plans to use the Series B to expand its college network, strengthen its technology and AI learning platform, build out its academic and delivery teams, and introduce new industry-aligned skilling programs.

Delivery is the hard part of this business. Selling a curriculum to a college is one step. Staffing it with capable instructors across dozens of campuses in different states, while keeping quality consistent, is what determines whether the model scales.

Why the byteXL Funding Matters

Indian edtech has had a difficult few years, with consumer-facing companies cutting back sharply after a pandemic-era boom. Investors have since favored models with institutional customers, predictable revenue and measurable outcomes.

byteXL fits that profile. Colleges pay for the program, students receive it as part of their education, and job placements provide a clear measure of results. Elevar Equity, the lead investor, focuses on businesses serving underserved customer segments, and the involvement of the Dell Foundation underlines the employability angle.

The timing also matters. As AI changes entry-level technology work, colleges need to update what they teach faster than traditional curriculum cycles allow. A partner that can bring current training onto campus offers a quicker path than rebuilding programs from scratch.

With $9 million in new capital, byteXL has the resources to test whether its model holds up at three times its current scale.

Source

Inc42 — "byteXL Raises $9 Mn To Take Tech, AI Skilling To More Engineering Colleges"