[Funding alert] Extra-curricular activities platform HobSpace raises seed round led by Artha Venture Fund

Mumbai-based Hobspace on Tuesday announced that it has raised Rs 1.6 crore in seed funding led by Artha Venture Fund (AVF), an early-stage micro-VC fund. Other investors that participated in this round include Angelist Indis Trust LLP, Upsparks LLP, Siddharth Bhaskar Shah, Ronak Morbia, and Icebreaker Tech LLP. 

Hobspace intends to transform the under-utilised school buildings, playgrounds, clubhouses, and community centers into educational playgrounds and hobby centers with diverse after-school activities. The children have a plethora of options to pick from, including indoor activities, ballet, chess, and robotics. 

Co-founded in 2019 by Priya Goel Sheth and Harsh Jain, HobSpace is a platform for online and offline extra-curricular activities for kids aged 3-14 years. Later, the duo was joined by Bhaskar Raju Konduru as the third co-founder.

Speaking about the development, Priya Goel Sheth said, "At HobSpace, we are transforming out of school activities for kids. Right in our first meeting, we realised AVF's approach is central to help founders focus on key business metrics. We wanted a great partner who not only understands the space but is also willing to spend enough time with us while we build and scale this exciting business, and who better than AVF!"

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Hobspace has partnered with schools and specialist trainers to provide training and conduct lessons based on children's hobbies and sports requirements.  

Commenting on the investment, Anirudh A Damani, Managing Partner at AVF,  said,  "I have personally invested in this space, and it has vast potential. However, what I like about Hobspace founders is their focus on unit economics and business viability. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, they have transformed their offline model into an online model. Now, as the unlock is underway, Hobspace has two distribution channels to reach out to children and parents." 

Anirudh Damani has eight years of experience investing in startups through his family office Artha India Ventures. He has built a portfolio of 75+ companies that includes Interstellar, Oyo, Tala, Purplle, Coutloot, Supr Daily, Beardo, Rapido Bike Taxi, ConfirmTkt, etc.