Edtech startup Tekie has raised $1.5 million in seed funding, co-led by Silicon Valley-based GSV Ventures and Multiply Ventures, an early-to-growth stage fund by former ecommerce executives from Myntra, Paytm, Flipkart, and Alibaba.
Better Capital has also participated in the round, a release said.
This is the first seed investment in India by GSV, a female-led, multi-stage venture capital firm focused on the $7 trillion education technology sector across ‘Pre-K to Gray’ whose portfolio companies include Coursera, which recently went public, Masterclass, and Outlier.
Founded in 2017 by IIT Delhi graduate Naman Mukund and SRCC alumnus Anand Verma, Tekie is a live coding platform that brings the art of storytelling to make learning a movie-like experience.
The edtech startup has created the animated series on coding to teach text-based coding to kids. In a short span, the startup has over 12,000 students learning on its platform and plans to utilise the funds to scale its operation to support increasing demand and build a strong team to unlock the next level of growth.
Tekie Co-Founder Anand Verma said, “As a first generation learner, I have seen the transformational impact of education first hand.”
“When we started four years back, our goal was to build a product with focus on three pillars – put learning outcomes at the forefront, make learning an enjoyable experience, and provide the best teachers to learners. Our animated series, live projects and gamified learning journey makes the course an immersive experience and the students look forward to their sessions,” he added.
The classes are a blend of assisted live sessions by expert mentors with hands-on coding experience and new age learning methods designed to make learning to code an immersive experience. Tekie is on a mission to empower the next generation with future-ready skills and help them become innovators and changemakers.
Tekie Co-Founder Naman Mukund said, “Having grown up in a digital-first world, the learning habits of students have evolved and the education system needs to keep up with the changing trends.”
“Coding is not only an essential skill for the future but an effective way to build problem-solving and logical thinking among kids. Coding education is still at a nascent stage in our country, primarily restricted to block-based coding. We want students to go beyond just getting introduced to concepts and learn to write real code,” he added.
Multiply Ventures Founder and Myntra’s ex-co-founder Raveen Sastry said, “Tekie’s unique value proposition and student centric approach to teaching live coding via a story telling format is visible in the learning outcome and fits perfectly well into our investment Thesis for EdTech. Their high NPS scores and retention numbers are a reflection of product market fit.”
Tekie plans to focus on expanding its product offerings and explore new revenue models. It has recently launched B2B offering, where it partners with schools to enable coding in their curriculum. NEP2020 has mandated schools to offer coding as a subject from class 6 onwards as part of 21st century skills.
Tekie is planning to expand the offerings in other markets like the US, Canada, and the UK after successfully establishing its presence in India and the company has grown from just seven employees to over 50 employees.
