Toppr, one of India’s leading after-school learning platforms, has raised Rs 350 crore in a Series D round of funding to further enhance its products and launch new initiatives.
The round was led by Dubai-based investment firm Foundation Holdings, with participation from existing investor Kaizen Private Equity, according to a statement from the company.
Founded in 2013 by IIT Bombay alumni Zishaan Hayath and Hemanth Goteti, Toppr provides an AI-based after-school learning app for K12 to help students prepare for various school, board, and competitive exams. It uses artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data to study student behaviour and create adaptive learning paths, ensuring every student has a unique and personalized learning experience. The startup also uses natural language processing to solve student doubts.
Toppr covers 20 boards, 60 competitive exams, and 40 subjects, making its app one-stop after-school learning platform for students across the country. The startup claims to have about 13 million learners and 100,000 paid subscribers on its platform.
Commenting on the funding, Zishaan Hayath, Co-founder and CEO, Toppr, said in a statement,
“With this investment, we now have the capability and reach to truly revolutionize the K-12 education experience and ensure that no learner is left behind. We are also excited about the launch of the School OS and believe this will be a ground-breaking initiative empowering teachers and schools across the country.”
The Mumbai-based startup said it will use the fresh funding to ramp up its adaptive AI learning product and launch new platforms for coding and schools. Additionally, with the funding, it also plans to develop its AI-based Toppr School Operating System, a platform that integrates in-school and after-school learning to create a standardized and personalized experience.
Aakash Sachdev, Managing Director of Foundation Holdings, said,
“Toppr’s market leading, proprietary machine learning technology is uniquely positioned to provide an integrated, curated, personalized pedagogy platform, mapped to 22 curricula, designed to take schools to the future.”
With the latest funding, Toppr has cumulatively raised Rs 700 crore to date. The startup has last raised $35 million in its Series C funding round in 2018 from Kaizen Private Equity, Alteria Capital and Brand Capital. Toppr’s other investors include SAIF Partners, Helion Ventures, and Eight Roads Ventures. In August last year, the startup launched live classes on its platform where students can join batches with pre-published schedules.
Meanwhile, Indian edtech sector has witnessed strong traction from investors since January this year. With the latest investment, Toppr has joined the likes of BYJU’S, Vedantu, Unacademy, Lido Learning, Classplus, and Flinto among several companies that have received substantial amounts of capital from existing and new investors from across the globe.
