[Funding alert] Bengaluru-based Playto Labs raises over Rs 4Cr in a seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures

Edtech startup Playto Labs has raised over Rs 4 crore in a seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures.

The round also saw individual participation from partners of the upcoming fund Disruptors Capital, including Raj Snehil Juneja (Chief Investment Officer), Krishna Kumar (Founder, Simplilearn), Kunal Walia (Founder, Simpliwork), and Shashwat Kumar (Managing Partner, Khetal Advisors), and entrepreneurs including Tonmoy Shingal and Ketan Kapoor (Founders, Mettl), Sachin Sharma (Founder, Townscript), Rajesh Razdan (Founder, Devtron Labs), and Kuldeep Dhankar (SVP, CleverTap) among others.

Playto aims to use the funding in building a strong team and expanding its customer base.

Vinay Bansal, Founder & CEO, Inflection Point Ventures, stated, “Our children are growing in the age of technology and getting comfortable with using gadgets much before they learn to speak. Playto model is helping parents and their children to harness technology in a much more positive way where kids are learning something new and keeping themselves engaged in a constructive manner. Given the technology exposure in India, this is a booming market which got us interested in backing Playto.”  

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Within a year of launching, Playto Labs products for kids claims to already have paying customers from 33 countries, and have seen strong month-on-month growth. Kids love these products, and the same is evident as more than half of its customers have come from word of mouth and organic channels, the startup stated.

Pavan Ponnaganti, Founder and CEO, Playto Labs, an IIT Kanpur alum said,

“Toys are a great way of learning for kids. My daughter (3-year-old) has learned many things just by playing with toys, although she hasn’t gone to pre-school due to COVID-19. But toys are unable to keep up with the learning needs of children as they grow up after 7 years of age. As a result, kids only depend on their school to learn.” 

“Through Playto Labs, we are building products to address this and make play a more relevant learning method for kids above 7 years. The goal is to make kids truly enjoy science and tech, and we believe that is how the real innovators of the future will emerge. We currently offer Robotics products for kids, and we are delighted with the feedback we have been receiving from students and parents across the globe. We are launching more products soon.”, he adds.

Launched in 2020 by IIT Kanpur graduates to help students become future-ready through hands-on learning, the team earlier built Skyfi Labs, where they developed 100+ project-based courses in engineering subjects for UG-level students, which saw enrollments from 400,000+ students across 65 countries.