Home-schooling edtech startup ClassMonitor has raised Rs 3.5 crores as part of its pre-Series A investment round from Indian construction company PATH India, UAE-based Calega family office investor group, and Sarvann, which is a group of Oman-based investors. The startup will use the fresh funds to build its presence across other nations and strengthen its content and technology for the end users.
To date, the company has raised Rs 6 crores since its inception in 2016. As part of its angel round, ClassMonitor was backed by Piyush Jain, CFO, Al Hajri group, a notable angel investor having invested in over 25 startups across the globe.
With a mission to provide holistic learning experiences using DIY kits for pre-schoolers and help parents keep their children away from the screens, ClassMonitor was founded by childhood friends Vijeet Pandey and Vikas Rishishwar in 2016. Started as a messaging platform for parents and teachers, ClassMonitor pivoted in 2018 to a hybrid early learning tool that marries offline learning with digital cues and rewards. Essentially, the startup built an O2O model in edtech.
While every educational institution in India shut down in March 2020 and most moved online to ensure continued learning during the pandemic, the country has approximately 165 million children in the 0-5 years age group who have lost out on early childhood learning as centres dedicated to their development continue to remain closed till date. ClassMonitor offers early education solutions for kids between the age groups of 1-8 years currently, and plans to expand itself till age 12.
The Indore-based startup focuses on the fundamental development of a child based on five core areas: linguistic skills, logical thinking, sensory and motor skills, cognitive skills, and creativity. Their kits are designed for early learners (0 to 8), and lets parents teach, play, and bond meaningfully with their children. Each kit contains over 250 DIY activities, including flashcards, worksheets, rhymes, stories, art supplies, and games. It comes bundled with a subscription to ClassMonitor app that has a QR code scanner.
Vijeet Pandey, Co-founder and CEO, said, “A remarkable component of our societal adjustment during the last one year has been the ability to keep children engaged in educational experiences while away from the classroom. At ClassMonitor, we are combining valuable lessons with interesting tasks that encourage interaction between the kids and the parents. The DIY experience teaches them problem-solving skills and also helps in developing an analytical thinking perspective.”
Rishika Agrawal from PATH India, said, “We at PATH have always been passionate about the education industry and we run a skill development centre as well for on-field training of engineering students. ClassMonitor is tapping into the edtech space while engaging children meaningfully in a holistic fun learning environment. We loved the sheer enthusiasm and the vision of the founders. Our investment will support ClassMonitor through its entire journey in becoming the pioneer in the education subscription box industry. We see an opportunity to build a global leader in addressing the unique needs of early learning by co-creating products for children, parents and educators.”
The startup is currently present in more than 1,000 cities in India and has a footprint in more than 12 countries. The ClassMonitor app has over 75,000 registered users. Of this, 50,000 are paid subscribers.
Before raising this round, the company was profitable for the last 14 months. “Today, we are a team of 100-plus members, aiming to grow to 200-plus with 20 crores ARR by this financial year end,” added Vijeet.
In addition to the B2C and B2B models, ClassMonitor is also pushing its B2BB2C vertical which has over 100 mothers who are the distributors of the ClassMonitor learning kit in their towns and cities. These mothers hail from metros as big as Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi and smaller towns and cities such as Sangli, Siliguri and Guwahati.
