[Funding alert] Performing arts academy Kafqa Academy raises $1.3M in seed round

Bengaluru-based performing arts academy, Kafqa Academy, on Friday announced that it has secured $1.3 million in seed funding from institutional investors and tech entrepreneurs. 

Founded by Shariq Plasticwala, former Director at Amazon India, Kafqa Academy aims to serve artists from their first step in the performing arts to their success on the largest stages in the world. 

The funding round was led by Global Founders Capital (GFC) and saw participation from institutional investors such as Enzia Ventures and Better Capital. Angel investors who participated in the round include Kunal Shah, Founder and CEO of CRED; Ashish Hemrajani and Parikshit Dar, Founders of BookMyShow; Umang and Virendra Gupta, Founders of Josh and DailyHunt; Vikram Chopra, Founder and CEO of Cars24; Kumar Aakash, SVP at Hotstar; and Alexander Peter, SVP, Founders Office (People and Strategy) at Bukukas.

Kafqa Academy aims to create a community of 50 million active learners.

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Furthermore, the academy is also looking to cater to the rising demand for Indian art forms from outside India, which coincides with the rise of India’s global stature in recent decades, with its cultural assets like arts, heritage and more, becoming a subject of aspiration and admiration by the global community.

Shariq Plasticwala, Founder, Kafqa Academy, said, 

“Performing arts has been my passion for years now. We started Kafqa Academy with a mission to expand the learning of the performing arts and enable artists. We think of ourselves as an intersection of the arts and technology world. We have launched our online classes in dance, music, speech and drama. We are examining every part of the learning experience and innovating using technology to make it better for our students.”

“The investment has allowed us to invest into technology and content development, thereby accelerating experience and growth,” he added.

The Academy focuses on outcome-based learning with performances and certification at the end of every course. Instructors at Kafqa Academy are hand-picked with a selection rate of less than two percent of all applications received. Additionally, Kafqa Academy trains instructors on delivering online classes and invests to build their capability. The Academy caters to the rising demand of performing arts by offering online classes with a structured curriculum leveraging technology to create a simple trial, payment, and credit experiences, offering revision and practice tools and digital performances. Live support is offered and a dedicated instructor success team focuses on identifying opportunities that make instructors successful.

The Kafqa Academy team has scaled to 100+ (includes 50 instructors) and comprises expert artists as instructors and ex-founders in product and technology roles.