BrightChamps, an Indian edtech startup that is attempting to bridge the learning gap left by K12 schools, said on Monday it has raised $51 million in a new financing round and $63 million to date since launching a year ago as the Goa-headquartered firm looks to expand its footprints in over 10 nations.
The startup, which was valued at nearly $500 million in the new financing round led by Premji Invest, currently teaches kids programming and other skills in over 10 markets including Southeast Asia, the U.S., and Canada, BrightChamps co-founder and chief executive Ravi Bhushan told TechCrunch in an interview.
Bhushan, who was homeschooled and previously served as the chief technology officer at property portal PropTiger, said schools across the world are failing to teach kids several important skills that they need to excel in modern times. “It’s not an India problem. Schools across the globe are teaching kids how to change the style of text in Microsoft Word in the name of technology,” he said.
The startup, which has amassed over a hundred thousand registered students and has achieved profitability, is “building a ‘weapon of mass instruction’ and is leading the disruptive wave which will make India one of the largest exporters of transformative digital education,” said Deborah Quazo, Managing partner at GSV Ventures, in a statement. GSV led the startup’s earlier round, which TechCrunch had reported.
A slide from an earlier investor deck of BrightChamps obtained by TechCrunch.
Bhushan said the startup’s growth has been completely organic so far and it has not used any money raised from the investors. “We are growing solely with the money we have earned from our customers,” he said.
BrightChamps has been one of the most talked startups in India in the past one year and has already been approached by one of the largest edtech giants in the country with a buyout offer, TechCrunch has learned.
The startup, which spoke for the first time last week after TechCrunch approached it to confirm the funding round, said it intended to speak about its offerings and earlier financing round last year, but decided against it because it didn’t want to celebrate a milestone at a time when its home nation was trying to fight the pandemic.
Bhushan declined to comment on any acquisition offer BrightChamps has received, but said he is building the startup with a very long-term vision and is not looking to make short-term profits. “Education, as you can tell, has been my passion since the childhood,” he added.
“In less than a year after inception Brightchamps has established itself as one of the fastest growing Ed tech companies in the markets that it serves . Leveraging Human Resources globally to deliver personalised experiences, along with an unique ability to hyper differentiate learning pathways, Brightchamps is on the path to proving that the power of data and learning can be combined for differentiated outcomes,” said T Kurien, Managing Partner of Premji Invest, in a statement.
This is a developing story. More to follow…
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