[Funding alert] Bharti Airtel acquires strategic stake in kids learning startup Lattu Kids

Bharti Airtel on Wednesday said it has acquired a strategic stake in edtech startup Lattu Media Pvt Ltd (Lattu Kids) as part of the Airtel Startup Accelerator Program.

Mumbai-based Lattu Kids, founded in 2016, specialises in digital learning tools for children. Its app, available for Android users, focusses on improving English vocabulary, English reading and maths skills for children under the age of 10 years through entertaining, fun learning animated videos and games.

According to a statement released by the company, it is estimated that in India, edtech will become a $2 billion plus industry by 2021. The investment will enable Airtel to add edtech to its premium digital content portfolio and give distribution scale to quality learning material from Lattu Kids, the statement added. Airtel already claims to have over 160 million monthly active users across its digital platforms – Airtel Thanks app, Airtel Xstream app and Wynk Music.

Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel said, 

“At Airtel, we aspire to support the growth of the startup ecosystem through our digital platforms. And now more than ever, online education is a critical need for millions of young children who do not have access to regular classrooms. We believe that Lattu Kids can make a positive impact in the space of online education and are excited to have them in our accelerator, and partner in their growth.”

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Lattu Kids becomes the fourth company to join the Airtel Startup Accelerator Program, which allows startups to leverage Airtel’s robust ecosystem, including its core strengths in data, distribution, networks, and payments. Other startups backed by the company are Gurugram-based conversational-AI tech startup Voicezen, Bengaluru-based software development startup Vahan, and another Gurugram's logistics tech startup Quikmile.

Vivek Bhutyani, Co-founder and CEO, Lattu Kids added,

“Our vision with Lattu Kids is to impact learning outcomes for young children in Nursery to Grade 2 and lead this category in India by using digital content, gamification and technology. With Airtel, we have found an equally passionate partner and our synergies in this space will allow us to scale Lattu to millions of kids in India across classes and make it a much-loved home grown edtech brand.”

At over 500 million, India has the second largest number of internet users in the world, driven by affordable smartphones and the lowest 4G data tariffs globally. “This deep penetration of the internet has also led to wide adoption of online learning tools. The COVID-19 pandemic and closure of schools has further accelerated the adoption of virtual classrooms and digitally enabled learning,” Airtel said.