Edtech startup Avishkaar has raised Rs 5 crore of funding in pre-series A from Auxano, Mumbai Angels, Alok Mittal, angel investor & Co-founder and CEO, Indifi Technologies, and Varun Aggarwal, Co-founder, Aspiring Minds.
Avishkaar plans to utilise the funding towards product development and further expansion of its portfolio in addition to hiring talent, a release said.
Further, with its mission to build an army of young innovators globally, the company will invest in marketing; India will continue to be a focus market this year with enough scope to grow in Tier-I and Tier-II cities while catering to inbound queries from international institutions.
Avishkaar has previously raised Rs 5 crore in seed investment from Auxano in February 2018 towards expanding its presence across the country in schools and the launch of a new line of products. Ever since, Avishkaar has quadrupled its presence and revenues.
In the pre-COVID period, the company was working with over 1500 schools and had grown its user-base to over 100,000 children.
Post March 2020, the pandemic forced schools to shut down with children and parents grappling with the online learning mechanism.
Avishkaar was quick to adapt to this situation and shifted gears to focus on a D2C (Direct to Consumers model) through its existing school network and ecommerce channels. This shift in strategy has accelerated the brand’s growth by more than 5 times in the last one year.
Avishkaar Co-founder and CEO Tarun Bhalla said, “Avishkaar’s goal since its inception has been to create an army of innovators.”
“Exponential technologies like AI, Robotics, Coding and 3D printing are already defining the world around us. However, with COVID-19, technology is at the heart of everything and it’s important that we impart these skills amongst our children if they find these fields exciting,” Bhalla added.
“We provide a comprehensive platform that bridges the gap between next-generation technology skills and life skills with appropriate tools, community, content and mentoring. If we are to nurture creators and not mere consumers then it is important for parents, and schools to create micro-environments where children can make, break, experiment, take risks and fail,” said Avishkaar Co-founder and COO Pooja Goyal said.
In 2017, Avishkaar started setting up Atal Tinkering Labs envisioned by NITI Aayog. The company has set up over 1000 of these labs across the country.
