3rdFlix Raises $5 Mn In Pre-Series A Funding Led By Exfinity Ventures

Hyderabad-based edtech startup 3rdFlix has raised $5 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round. The company said that the round was led by Exfinity Ventures with participation from YourNest, IDFC Parampara and HNIs.

3rdFlix plans to use the funds to increase its current market penetration and launch immersive and experiential content later this year. It is also looking to launch in international markets in the next 18 months, particularly the USA, UAE, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

3rdFlix Leveraging VR, AR And More

Founded in 2014 by Subbarao Siddabattula, Ilangovel Thulasimani and Charu Noheria, 3rdFlix is an edtech platform leverages deeptech technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality to enable immersive education.  The company offers two key products — an AI enabled learning platform under the brand name Corsalite and a yet-to-be launched immersive content product under the brand name 3rdFlix.

The company plans to open an office in Delhi to be closer to its clients in northern India, and over the course of this year it wants to establish other bases in India. Shailesh Ghorpade, managing partner and CIO, Exfinity Venture Partners LLC, said, “3rdFlix is founded by a stellar founding team that is driven by a mission to democratise effective learning by supplementing teachers with content that is immersive, modular and conceptualised by veteran academicians.”

The company claims to have over 1.5 Lakh students last year in grades VI to XII. Sunil Goyal, MD, YourNest Venture Capital praised 3rdFlix’s technology that make the delivery of learning content more effective, which has a positive ripple in a sector like edtech.

Education Technology In India

India’s online education market is expected to reach $1.96 Bn by the year 2022. According to DataLabs by Inc42, there were 3,500 edtech startups in India in 2018. Between 2014 and 2018, 182 edtech startups were funded with a total of $1.34 Bn, so the investor interest has remained high for edtech.

The AR/VR industry in India is at a nascent stage. In the last few years, only about 170 startups have emerged in this space. However, in the next few years, this industry is likely to see a compound annual growth rate of 76%, wrote Srinivas Kollipara, former-CEO at T-Hub.

The global AR, VR market size is projected to reach $100 Bn by 2023. In India, with the government now focussing on skilling and development in AR and VR, as well as its attention to  improve infrastructure through the adoption of Industry 4.0 standards, this particular sector has great momentum amid increasing interest.

The Gamification in Education Market report says that the market is expected to grow from $450 Mn in 2018 to $1.8 Bn by 2023, at a CAGR of 32.0% during the forecast period of 2018-2023. The report said that the major factors driving the growth of gamification in education market are increasing adoption of digital learning, growing need to enhance the learning experience for better outcomes, and adoption of AR/VR technologies.