Edtech startup Yellowdig raises $1 million

Sashi Reddi of SRI Capital and Yellowdig founder Shaunak Roy had lunch in Center City one day.
A month after they first shook hands, a deal was made: SRI Capital was investing a cool $1 million in Roy’s company.
Today, after all the details have been ironed out, the Center City-based edtech company announced the closing of that funding round, which is geared at kicking off a year of growth for the company. Yellowdig was founded in 2014 as something like a “Reddit for the classroom.”
As part of the deal, Reddi will join Yellowdig’s board of directors, bringing with him his knowledge of SaaS enterprises.
“The funds will be used to accelerate platform development and sales & marketing efforts, as we expect rapid growth over the next 12 months,” Roy said in a statement.

By the end of the year, the company expects to take its current full-time staff in the U.S. from four to eight. Growth in Yellowdig’s offshore team in Pune, India, is also expected.
“Building an edtech SaaS platform requires patience, as the growth trajectory is very different from consumer tech,” Roy said. “Our core team has been working very hard over the past few years to solidly establish the product in the marketplace and build a scalable go-to-market strategy.”
Some 35,000 students across campuses like Northwestern University, Arizona State University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Florida use Yellowdig as a social learning platform.