SUMMARY
Series A round was led by Sequoia with participation from Jalaj Dani Family Office and existing angel investors
The funds raised will be used to strengthen the startup's presence in the US across online and offline retail
Skillmatics claims to have sold over 3 Mn products till date with a presence in over 15K retail stores
Direct-to-consumer (D2C) edtech startup Skillmatics, which develops educational products and games for children. has raised $6 Mn in its Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India, with participation from Jalaj Dani Family Office and existing angel investors.
Founded in 2017 by Dhvanil Sheth and Devanshi Kejriwal, Skillmatics is present across 15 countries and more than 15K retail stores with a primary focus on North America and India. Its products and games are said to inculcate core skills in math, language, science and logic through gamification and interactivity. The funds raised will be used to strengthen the startup’s presence in the US across online and offline retail, where it is available at Walmart, Target and other multi-brand retail outlets.
The company said it would hire across product design, data analytics, technology, and marketing roles with the fresh funding, as well as expand product offerings to target newer age groups and enter new product categories. It currently offers products in learning resources, educational games and STEM toys.
Skillmatics claims to have sold over 3 Mn products till date, and considers affordability to be its competitive edge as its education toys are priced between INR 299 and INR 999 ($4-$15). It has set up its manufacturing process across 25 factories in India, using small as well as large suppliers, to achieve this price point. In India, the company’s products have a retail shelf presence at over 3K stores including leading toys retailer Hamley’s.
In July last this year, cofounder Sheth told Inc42, “We leverage data analytics to create products and have built a vertically integrated supply chain with in-house manufacturing to rapidly launch and scale these products 5x faster than incumbent brands.”
Part of the Sequoia Surge accelerator’s first cohort in 2019, Skillmatics has raised a total of $8 Mn to date, with a previous round led by the VC fund in 2019. It was featured among 10 rising edtech startups in Inc42’s Edtech Startup Watchlist earlier this year.
In 2020, the company managed to overcome the disruption to retail sales by focussing on online channels. Sheth told us last year that the company is on track to close FY21 with INR 60 Cr in net revenue, despite recording zero revenues in April and May 2020.
“Our vertically integrated supply chain enables us to rapidly iterate, launch and scale new products 5X faster than traditional incumbent brands. The fundraise gives us the fuel to build new capabilities, expand our reach and take us one step closer to building an iconic brand that is loved by families around the world,” added Skillmatics cofounder and creative director Kejriwal.
She told Inc42 in January that the company is profitable at the bottom-line level and generates free cash every month. The company’s long term plan is to go public, Kejriwal revealed.
