Ashish Munjal & Sunstone: The Mission to Fix Higher Education and Create Employable Graduates in India
Deep dive into Ashish Munjal, Co-Founder and CEO of Sunstone. His journey, Sunstone's disruptive edtech model, funding, and vision for India's youth.
What drives an engineer with an MBA, who once navigated the world of investment banking and consumer tech startups, to take on the colossal challenge of transforming higher education in India? For Ashish Munjal, Co-Founder and CEO of Sunstone, it’s a deeply personal mission fueled by a desire to make quality education accessible and accountable, ensuring graduates are not just degree-holders but truly employable.
I recently had an in-depth conversation with Ashish on the Founder Thesis podcast, where he candidly shared his entrepreneurial journey, the evolution of Sunstone, and his vision for the future.
Check out the video of the conversation here or read on for insights.
From Small Town Dreams to Disrupting EdTech: The Ashish Munjal Story 👨🎓
Ashish Munjal's drive isn't accidental. His roots trace back to a "typical middle-income background," growing up in a Tier 2 city. This upbringing, where education is often seen as the primary catalyst for a better life, profoundly shaped his perspective.
His academic journey provided a strong foundation:
B.Tech in Computer Science from Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University.
MBA in Finance from the prestigious Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad.
He also Cleared Level III of the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) from the CFA Institute, USA.
Early Career & First Entrepreneurial Leap 💼
Before Sunstone, Ashish Munjal's career was a tapestry of diverse experiences, each adding a unique thread to his entrepreneurial skill set:
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS): Started as an Associate Software Engineer.
Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) & Deloitte Consulting LLP: Gained exposure to consulting.
Bank of America: Served as an Analyst in investment banking, focusing on Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT) sectors.
Knowlarity Communications: A pivotal role as Manager of Strategy in the CEO's office at this SaaS startup, where he was deeply involved in strategic planning, sales, operations, and product development. This experience was instrumental in honing his entrepreneurial acumen.
In August 2014, Ashish took his first entrepreneurial plunge co-founding Crown It (GoldVIP). Initially a rewards and loyalty program, it later pivoted into a mobile-first market research platform. The Crown It journey, with its successes and challenges in the online-to-offline (O2O) deals space, was a crucible. Ashish shared fascinating details on the podcast about Crown It's innovative gamification, achieving impressive organic user acquisition (91% users from organic, 65% direct referrals, with zero paid marketing initially!), and the eventual tough call to pivot the business due to monetization challenges in the restaurant deals sector.
It is very difficult to scale this business up. Even if let's say 10% guys are not paying me, it is actually eroding the entire margin that I was planning to make.
This experience, though in a different sector, was rich with lessons about product-market fit, user engagement, monetization, and the hard realities of scaling – lessons that undoubtedly informed his approach to Sunstone.
🌱 The Genesis of Sunstone: An "Itch" to Solve Real Problems
After moving on from Crown It in 2018, Ashish was clear about his next focus.
I had this at the back of my mind that I want to do something in the area of education because that's something I really felt passionate about.
This wasn't just a fleeting interest. He had previously attempted an education venture in 2012. His personal experiences highlighted the "broken" aspects of the Indian education system, particularly the disparity in quality and opportunity between Tier 1 cities and the underserved Tier II and III regions.
If you take a good input quality with all of the great institutions that we think about, they take the top, literally the cream of the country and then sort of they claim that we have made this child's life. I thought that this is a cheating, it's not right. Because it was good, what did you do with it?
His vision was to work with students who wouldn't otherwise get access to high-quality, outcome-driven education.
We decided that we will take the child who doesn't get a good education in the right way... and we will work with that student.
This led to intensive research, culminating in the acquisition and reimagining of Sunstone.
☀️ Sunstone: Education That Works 🎯
Sunstone Education Technology Pvt. Ltd. was officially incorporated on January 15, 2019. The mission was clear: provide "education that works" – an education focused on employability and tangible outcomes.
The Core Problem Sunstone Addresses:
Sunstone tackles the pervasive issue of graduate unemployability by addressing key deficiencies in traditional higher education:
Lack of industry-relevant skills.
The "education black box" with delayed feedback and little chance for intervention.
The overemphasis on degrees versus actual marketable skills.
The Sunstone Model: A "Cloud College" Approach ☁️
Instead of building physical campuses from scratch (a capital-intensive and regulation-heavy endeavor in India), Sunstone partners with existing universities and colleges. Ashish described it as a "cloud college".
Sunstone was working, almost working like a college, but without having to set up its own campus, without having to invest in real estate and all of those things. The problem of higher education can be solved in higher education, cannot be solved outside higher education.
Key Differentiators & Services:
Industry-Aligned Curriculum: Co-created and regularly updated with input from industry experts.
Dual Track Learning: Students receive their university degree, while Sunstone provides an intensive overlay focused on employability skills (English, Logic, Quant, Domain or ELQD, plus soft skills).
I need 3 to 4 hours of student every single day... 4 hours I will not teach him university track. I will teach him Sunstone track. Now Sunstone track is created from day 1 to help you reach become employable and get to a job.
Focus on Practical, Hands-On Learning: Through immersive internships (6+ months), real-world case studies, live projects, and simulations.
Holistic Development: Emphasis on soft skills (communication, critical thinking, executive presence) and personality development.
Technology Leverage:
AI-powered admissions and video interviewing.
The "Sunstone Learning Index" for real-time progress tracking and personalized interventions.
Tech-enabled classrooms ("Sunstone Spaces") with features like automated attendance and engagement measurement.
AI in CV building and content creation. Ashish shared, "100% of that CV [checking] is being automated to AI. Not a single faculty is checking any CV now," and content creation is moving towards AI-generation with human verification.
Strong Placement Support: A dedicated placement team and a network of over 1,200 recruiters.
"Pay After Placement" (PAP) Model: Initially a flagship offering for MBA programs, this model (and similar "Career Assurance Plans") demonstrated Sunstone's commitment to student outcomes.
The association of Sunstone with pay after placement was... a top of the mind recall for student.
While Sunstone has since evolved its fee structures, particularly with the introduction of undergraduate programs, this outcome-first philosophy remains central.
Program Diversification: Started with postgraduate programs (MBA, PGDM) and expanded into undergraduate programs in 2022 (BBA, MCA, B.Tech, BCA, B.Com, BSc).
📈 Sunstone's Growth, Scale & Funding Journey
Sunstone has demonstrated impressive growth, fueled by significant investor confidence.
Funding Trajectory 💰:
Angel Round (Dec 2018/Jan 2019): Raised ~₹2 crore even before the company was formally incorporated. Ashish noted, "That's actually the perk of being a second-time founder... people trusted you."
Seed Round (Nov 2019): $1.6 Million (₹11.3 Cr) led by Prime Venture Partners, LetsVenture, PS1 Ventures, Rajul Garg.
Series A (Sept 2020): $3.26 Million (₹24 Cr) from Saama Capital, Prime Venture Partners, Ashish Gupta, Pankaj Bansal. Ashish mentioned on the podcast, "We closed our round before students hit the classroom."
Series B (Oct 2021): $28 Million led by WestBridge Capital, Saama Capital, Alteria Capital, Work10M.
Series C (Aug 2022): $35 Million led by WestBridge Capital, Alteria Capital. This round was notably raised when EdTech was generally cooling down.
Total disclosed equity funding is approximately $67.86 million.
Key Metrics & Scale (as of early/mid-2024, based on podcast & dossier):
Presence: Aiming for 14 cities and ~27-28 partner colleges by the end of 2024/early 2025. (Already in 30+ cities with 40+ institutions as per wider dossier data).
Student Base: Around 15,000 students enrolled, aiming for 20,000. (The dossier also mentions aspirations to impact over 200,000 student journeys).
Revenue: Targeting ₹300 crore in gross sales by end of the year (referring to the then-current financial cycle discussed on the podcast). The dossier notes operating revenues between INR 1-100 crore for FY ending March 2023, and ₹58.7Cr for FY ending March 2024.
Placement Success: Over 5,000 students placed, with a network of 1,200+ recruiters. Consistently high placement rates reported for its batches.
Impact: Ashish proudly stated on the podcast, "Around 60-65% of our students are the first one in their entire family tree to ever work in a corporate. It's actually a social upliftment."
Ashish Munjal's Vision & Leadership Philosophy 🌟
Ashish's vision for Sunstone is to fundamentally transform a learner's life by making education accessible, accountable, and industry-ready. He aims to dismantle the "education black box" and bridge the skill gap, especially for students from Tier II and Tier III cities.
His leadership is guided by:
Open-mindedness and Collaboration: Influenced by Guru Nanak's wisdom, "Ek ne kahi, duje ne maani; Nanak kahe dono gyani" (One spoke, the other agreed; Nanak said both are wise).
Resilience and Determination: Drawing inspiration from "Game of Thrones": "What do we say to the God of Death? Not today."
Data-Driven Decision Making & Accountability.
Impact-Focused Motivation.
Continuous Learning.
Reflecting on his journey as a founder, Ashish shared a key learning for his hypothetical third startup.
If I am doing the third company, I will go very slow in the beginning rather than going very fast... Because now I have a network who has trust in me... I don't have to prove it in the year one with my numbers... I can be very very thorough in year one... work on the fundamental foundationally building a strong business and then push the pedal on growth.
The Road Ahead: Challenges & Opportunities for Sunstone 🛣️
Sunstone operates in the dynamic Indian EdTech landscape, which presents both immense opportunities and significant challenges.
Opportunities: Hybrid learning models, AI in personalized learning, skill-based training demand, and supportive government policies like NEP 2020.
Challenges: High customer acquisition costs, monetization, regulatory scrutiny, maintaining quality at scale, and competition. For Sunstone specifically, navigating the pace of traditional academic frameworks and continuously evolving the curriculum to meet dynamic industry skill demands are crucial.
The Indian higher education system is at the brink of an overdue transformation. Sunstone is well positioned to enable this change. I don't know whether we will be able to really change the way education happen in our country or not. But obviously we are working very hard towards it.
Ashish Munjal’s journey with Sunstone is more than just building a successful company; it's an ambitious endeavor to reshape the future of countless young Indians by providing them with education that genuinely empowers them for life.
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Akshay Datt