Shirsa Labs, an educational technology start-up has raised $250,000 in angel capital funding through ah! Ventures. The funds will be used to by Shirsa Labs to strengthen and expand its team.
Founded in 2013 by Sukhada Tendulkar and Mandar Desai, Shirsa Labs aims to stimulate the intellectual and learning skills of children by using a combination of online and offline interactive methods, said it will use the funding to strengthen its team. Shirsa aims to make ‘Planet of Gui app the top ranked in the edutainment category in India, even as it looks to break into the global market.
Their online platform ‘Planet of GUI’ is used to engage, entertain and educate children in the 6-13 age group.
“Kids love play online, parents want actionable information and educators can teach better when children are motivated. We have connected these points and want Shirsa Labs to be a collaborator in this exciting eco-system that must work together,” said Shirsa Labs, co-founder and CEO, Sukhada Tendulkar.
“Our scalability and real life connect positions us uniquely to deliver significant value to the young ones. Through the online Economy, Children earn Geekos (the currency on the platform) which they spend to buy uniquely matched stuff from the platform. As we understand the child more on the platform through analytics, we generate insights and personalized recommendations for parents”, said Shirsa Labs, co-founder and CFO, Mandar Desai.
This deal was concluded through ah! Ventures’ private equity investment platform, CLUB ah!. The network recently secured its first profitable exit from ed-tech venture Harness Handitouch within 2 years of its investment. CLUB ah! has till date invested close to Rs 60 crore in over 20 start-ups.
“The market that Shirsa is targeting is phenomenally large. India has over 100 million students enrolled in K1- K8 which is almost 20 to 200 times that of US and UK respectively. Besides, evidence of increasing enrolment in private schools in rural India – from 18% in 2006 to 25% in 2011 to over 30% today – is proof enough that even rural India is exploring newer and innovative avenues of teaching and learning,“ said ah! Ventures, founder and CEO, Harshad Lahoti.