byteXL, a Hyderabad-based edtech company that sells IT and artificial intelligence skilling programmes to engineering colleges, has raised $9 million in a round led by Elevar Equity, according to a company press release dated 7 October 2026. Existing investors Kalaari Capital and The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation also took part. LoEstro Advisors acted as financial adviser.

The release does not give a valuation, revenue figures or a name for the round. It follows a $5.9 million Series A in July 2024, which was also led by Kalaari Capital with participation from the Dell Foundation. Inc42 put the new round at about Rs 86.7 crore.

What the money is for

byteXL works directly with engineering colleges, mainly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, and integrates IT and AI skilling into the regular curriculum rather than selling separate courses to students. The company was founded in 2019 by brothers Karun and Sricharan Tadepalli, according to Inc42.

The company says it currently works with 40 institutions and reaches about 2 lakh (200,000) students. It aims to grow to 120 institutions and 5 lakh (500,000) students across 15 states over the next two years. The release says the money will go on AI-enabled learning and assessment, student analytics and larger partnership teams. Business Standard, citing the company, also listed market expansion and new industry-aligned skilling programmes.

The release also makes claims about graduate placements in 2025. TED has not reported the figure because it is a company statement that has not been independently verified.

This fundraise is a strong validation of the growth we have built at byteXL.

Karun Tadepalli, Co-Founder and CEO, byteXL

Who is backing it

Elevar Equity, the new lead investor, was represented in the release by Sandeep Farias, its founder and managing partner. Sampath P, a partner at Kalaari Capital, said in the release that byteXL’s differentiation lay in its model and its proprietary technology platform. Gaurav Jain, head of university success for India at The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, was also quoted.

The return of both earlier backers means the company has kept its existing investors while adding a new lead. The release does not say how much each investor contributed, what stake the new money buys or whether any existing shares changed hands.

What it means

TED analysis:

  • For engineering colleges: byteXL’s model places skilling inside the credit-bearing curriculum, so the buyer is the college rather than the student. Private colleges outside the metros that are weighing such contracts should ask how outcomes are measured, who sets the assessments and who owns the student data.
  • For investors: the targets imply average reach falling from about 5,000 students per partner institution today to roughly 4,200 at 120 institutions. That points to growth among smaller colleges, where contract values may be lower and sales cycles longer.
  • For competing suppliers: a fresh round with a new lead gives byteXL money to bid for college partnerships across 15 states. Other providers of curriculum-integrated skilling should expect more competition for the same principals and management boards.
  • What is missing: with no valuation, revenue or margin disclosed, the round says little about whether business-to-college skilling makes money at this scale. A future filing or annual return would be the first hard evidence.