Tinkerly, an online platform that provides STEM-based learning resources for kids, has raised INR 6.5 crore in a round led by Navneet Tech Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian publication and content provider Navneet Education Limited (NEL).
The round also witnessed additional participation from the existing investors SucSEED Angel Network, Keiretsu Forum, Divyashish Jindal (Head of Academics at Doubtnut), Chand Das (Former CEO of ITC Education), Saurabh Aggarwal (Co-founder Fitso, Acquired by Zomato), Marwari Catalysts, and others.
With the latest round of investment, the total funding raised by the startup has reached INR 10 crore.
Tinkerly is a STEM learning online-offline solutions provider that enables building technical skills and job-related skills for the future. It provides two modules [B2B] helping schools to set up STEM/Tinkering Labs and [B2C] enabling kids at home by making monotonous online classes fun with its blend of proprietary STEM toys.
Founded in 2015 by Sharad Bansal, Vivek Pathak, and OP Godara, the Jaipur-based EdTech company has 50,000+ online learners who have consumed over 300,000 hours of learning. Its existing reach in 6,000+ schools and 100+ learning centers allows the startup to acquire 60 percent of its users from organic channels at near-zero CAC.
Commenting on the funding, Co-founder and CEO Sharad Bansal said,
“The fresh capital will multiply our efforts to rapidly grow the online user base and invest in technology. Tinkerly’s unique (Kit + Live Class) courses combined with Navneet, India’s most loved education brand that carries a 6-decade-old legacy, will set new benchmarks of learning outcomes and spark the joy of making among students across the globe.”
The company said the capital raised will be utilized in product development, increase consumer awareness, and expanding in new geographies with vernacular content, with the aim of creating a strong global brand.
Ketan Gala, Director of Navneet Tech Ventures, said,
“Every child’s hope and dreams have no boundaries. Tinkerly’s child-oriented approach towards coding harnesses this enthusiasm and successfully channels it towards a productive learning experience. Programs like these assist in the development of reasoning and analytical skills. Tinkerly’s approach is in the right direction and ensures that our children are future-ready, and as a company, they are taking a leap in the right direction as well.”
According to Tinkerly, prior to COVID-19, exposure to robotics or coding was limited to students studying in less than one percent of total Indian schools. With the adoption of online learning, access to quality learning has been democratized.
Tinkerly has built three types of kits, one for IoT learning, the second for AI learning (the company has filed a patent for this kit), and the third is a basic science exposure kit. Development of these kits and course curriculum is done in-house by the Tinkerly team, about 40 percent of the 18-member team at Tinkerly is involved in the content and product development.
Dhiraj Sinha Kumar, Co-founder of SucSEED Angels Network, also commented,
“We are proud to be a part of Tinkerly and to support it since we first invested in 2018. It’s great to witness Tinkerly consistently demonstrating its value proposition by using STEM innovatively and helping students to learn and grow. We believe that investment by a large publishing house like Navneet validates the potential of STEM education in India, and with re-opening of schools, its growth will further strengthen.”
The company claims that its monthly revenues have grown 8X in the past three months since the launch of the new version of its learning platform Let’s Tinker in April this year.
