[Funding alert] Edtech startup WhiteHat Jr raises $10M led by Nexus Venture Partners and Omidyar Network India

Mumbai-based edtech startup WhiteHat Jr on Tuesday announced that it had raised $10 million in Series A funding led by existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Omidyar Network India.

The new funds will be used by the company to strengthen its technology platform, expand the course curriculum, and increase consumer awareness. 

Anup Gupta, Managing Director, Nexus Venture Partners, said,

“We have been privileged to partner with Karan from the concept stage of the company, and have been very impressed with their execution and rapid growth. We are excited to strengthen our association with WhiteHat Jr’s mission of creating the next generation of innovators and thinkers.”

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Owl Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based edtech focused venture capital fund, also participated in the round. 

Amit A. Patel, Managing Director, Owl Ventures, said, 

“This is our second investment in India and WhiteHat Jr has created something that is unique, scalable, and very relevant, not only in India but across other markets.” 

This July, Owl Ventures had participated in BYJU’S $150 million funding round led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). 

Founded by Karan Bajaj, former Discovery Networks CEO, White Hat Jr helps kids aged between six to 14 build commercial-ready games, animations and apps online using the fundamentals of coding. It has developed its own original coding curriculum, which is centred on product creation, and imparts lessons through live, interactive online classes.

Started in November 2018, the startup earlier raised $1.3 million in seed funding from Nexus Venture Partners and Omidyar Network India.

Over the past few months, WhiteHat Jr’s online platform claims to have seen over 150,000 student trials, over 500 teachers on-boarded, and 1,000 online classes per day. 

WhiteHat Jr’s CEO Karan Bajaj said, 

“Our mission is to harness the natural creativity of kids and shift their mindset from an early age - from being consumers to creators of technology. It’s been heartening to see the projects of kids in the first six months of launch as they’re creating immensely creative, high utility digital applications that are bound to have long-term impact.”

WhiteHat Jr currently offers four levels of courses – Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Professional – for students in Classes 1-9. Kids create complex games, animations and apps using logic, structure, sequence, commands and algorithmic thinking—in a live online classroom. 

Namita Dalmia, Principal, Investments, Omidyar Network India, added, 

“We invested in WhiteHat Jr with an aim to improve cognitive skills and we’re heartened to see the impact of its curriculum on kids through improvements in creativity, concentration, and logical thinking as well as teachers who’re highly educated women tech professionals returning to the workforce.”

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

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