Edtech startup Kidovators raises seed funding of $180K; to reach out to 100K students this year

Bengaluru-based skill learning platform for children aged between 8 and 15 will reportedly utilise the capital in taking the Kidovators programmes to over 100,000 students and 600+ partner schools in 2018.

Edtech startup Kidovators raised a seed funding of $180,000 from Impact Investor, and US-based Gray Matters Capital’s edLABS initiative. M Chandrasekaran, board member at Sylvant Advisors and former corporate advisor to Manipal Group, also participated in the round.

In a statement released by the company, Kidovators will use the funds in reaching over 100,000 students and 600+ partner schools in 2018 as well as strengthen the core content, technology and sales team.

In January 2018, Kidovators launched its online skill learning platform, with courses on creative thinking, critical thinking, complex problem solving and other 21st century competencies for students aged 8 – 15. The company claims the platform has garnered over 10,000 student signups since its launch at the beginning of this year.

“I am grateful to our investors for putting their faith in us and we are constantly working towards adding more challenges, courses and spotlight programmes around 21st century competencies education along with ensuring to create a level playing field by providing the highest quality of education to budget private schools as well along with marquee schools in India and abroad,” said Priyadeep Sinha, Founder & CEO of Kidovators.

The funding comes on the back of a new learning programme and Olympiad on critical thinking launched by Kidovators this year to test skills like deduction, reasoning, interpretation, identification of assumptions, among others.

Gray Matters Capital (GMC) is an Atlanta based impact investor that is on a mission to support ‘An education leading to a more purposeful life for 100 million women by 2036.’ edLABS is an initiative of Gray Matters Capital in India to provide very early stage funding to ‘visionary edu-preneurs’ of for-profit enterprises to help them build solutions for the Indian mass market that address education gaps, 21st century skills and the future of work.

Kidovators also helps established education enterprises with business line innovation to make their products affordable for schools in the Budget Private Schools space catering to students belonging to families in lower income groups, and help improve learning outcomes in the process.

“The workplace of today needs a workforce equipped with skills to collaborate, articulate ideas, analyse and decipher insights from a sea of information and solve problems through creative thinking and critical reasoning. Kidovators is one of those innovative enterprises in the India’s education sector which we foresee will create a huge impact in building the human capital India needs for the future by successfully overcoming this challenge head-on,” added Ragini Bajaj Chaudhary, India CEO - Gray Matters Capital.

Founded in 2011, Kidovators had earlier raised angel funding from Luis Miranda, Former Chairman, IDFC PE and M Chandrasekaran in 2015.

India's edtech space 

According to a KPMG-Google report released in May 2017, the online higher education market is expected to touch $1.96 billion by 2021. Re-skilling and online certification courses currently account for a majority (38 percent) of the online higher education market, the report added. There has also been a surge in investments in the online education sector, with online skill training startups shifting focus from a university-based curriculum to a more industry-oriented training approach.

In India, platforms like AEON Learning, Simplilearn and SchoolGuru are operating in the online skill learning segment.

As the demand for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) skills is increasing exponentially, several startups are also working nurturing children’s STEM skills with educational programmes and DIY activities. Smartvity Labs, STEMRobo, evive, Avishkaar Box, Robotix Learning Solutions are some the platforms working in this space.