[YS Exclusive] K-12 learning startup 90+ My Tuition App raises $5M in a Series A round

90+ My Tuition App, an e-learning platform for Kerala State Syllabus, has raised $5 million in Series A funding from Pearl Investment LLC, a Dubai-based business group.

This is 90+ My Tuition App's first fundraise, and it plans to use the funds for market expansion, brand building, and product development across key state boards in India.

Founded in 2018, the Bengaluru-based startup offers video and animation-based afterschool tuitions in Maths, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology to Kerala State Board students. It claims that its curriculum pushes students to earn a '90+' score.

Vingish Vijay, Founder and Vice President, 90+ My Tuition App, told YourStory,

"We deliver 'Smartainment', a smart way to teach and learn, instead of the plain boring lectures. Our aim is to digitise tutoring, and we are providing focused textbook-oriented animated video content. Students, generally, are afraid of scoring in Maths and Science, but we wanted to change this perception by making these subjects easy to learn using animated content that imprints on  the young minds."

"Till now, we have only catered to Kerala State Board. In the coming months, you will see additions in terms of geographies, education boards, and curriculum," he added.

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What the platform offers

90+ My Tuition App competes with BYJU'S, Vedantu, Toppr (recently acquired by BYJU'S), Extramarks, Cuemath, Countingwell, and others in India's hyper-competitive K-12 learning segment.

After two years of R&D, it launched its product in 2020 amidst the pandemic. The platform offers 3,200 hours of video-based learning content, including tutorial videos, practice questions, mock online tests, and doubt-solving.

It has acquired 4.5 lakh users from Grades 5-12 in the last 16 months. 90+ My Tuition App focuses on delivering outcome-based learning, and its course completion rate stands at 86 percent. The app also allows parents to track the progress of their child using the ‘Parents Corner’ feature, and students to play lessons on offline mode.

The founder explained,

"Our content is developed to cater to the needs and responsiveness of average and below average students, helping them secure a good score. All the video classes have rich animation content, making it easy for the students to understand the chapters thoroughly."

Azmal Jaleel, CEO at Pearl Investment LLC, said on the funding, "We are in a midst of an edtech revolution, and the pandemic has accelerated the adoption of technology in education overnight. We are excited to partner 90+ My Tuition App’s journey and help them bring about transformative change in how students learn."

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Subscription model and growth plans

To differentiate its offering in a cluttered K-12 segment, 90+ My Tuition App offers free subscriptions to 5 percent of the students in each class. These learners are typically those who struggle to get good grades.   

Explaining the proposition, Vingish says, "We aim to convert traditional offline tuitions to digital mode. And, we are ensuring the affordability by offering a lesser subscription fee compared to existing offline tuition fees. This will propel the transformation of tuitions and help us educate India affordably."

90+ My Tuition App has a 200-member sales team that directly liaises with parents in Kerala. Now, it is expanding to add other states' curriculum.

The startup recently launched its second product — 90+ Top Rank — in the test prep segment. Its first module is focused on PSC aspirants in Kerala, and upcoming modules will also cater to SSC and railway aspirants.

"In the current year, we are expecting more than one million downloads from our national launch, and a conversion of 23 percent. We are aiming to achieve a 5 percent market share within three years from now," revealed the founder.

He added, "Our investors, Pearl Investment LLC, has significant experience in investing in varied sectors, disciplines and geographies. They offer great mentorship, enabling us to achieve our growth agenda."