Edtech startup Saarthi, investors drag acquirer Classplus to court

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Edtech startup Saarthi on Wednesday said it has taken legal action along with other investors against its acquirer Classplus on several charges including cheating, extortion, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of funds. Classplus, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for coaching institutes, had acquired Saarthi in late 2021, according to a statement. The deal went unannounced until now.

Both Saarthi and Classplus have submitted their responses to the Delhi High Court and the next hearing is scheduled for September, as per the statement by Saarthi. Saarthi is an edtech startup offering enterprise resource planning software and solutions for schools. It has raised investments from the likes of Gujarat Venture Finance, Pinnacle Investment Management and LetsVenture.

Saarthi founder Chiraag Kapil and investors have also lodged criminal complaints, naming Classplus and its founders Mukul Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal, along with chief financial officer Sankalp Aggarwal as the accused parties. Saarthi has also alleged mental harassment, defamation and theft of immovable property by the Classplus founders. Classplus – backed by Alpha Wave Global, Tiger Global Management, RTP Global, Owl Ventures, Peak XV's Surge, GSV Ventures and Blume Ventures – did not immediately respond to ET’s request for a comment on the matter.

The development was first reported Wednesday by The Morning Context. The list of aggrieved investors includes Kris Gopalakrishnan-backed Axilor Ventures, Innov8 founder Ritesh Malik, $40 million fund Faad Network, Oyo investor Vinod Sood, Polygon investor Rahul Dalmia, among other angel investors. «Classplus's failure to pay us (Saarthi's investors), despite numerous attempts to resolve the issue, is