Edtech Startup DoubtNut Raises $3.3 Mn Funding Led By Sequoia’s Surge

Edtech startup DoubtNut has raised $3.3 Mn (INR 23 Cr) in a Pre-Series A round of funding led by Sequoia’s startup accelerator and incubation programme Surge. DoubtNut was one of the 17 select startups which are part of Surge’s first cohort launched in April.

Existing investors WaterBridge Ventures and Omidyar Network India also participated in the round. Japanese media and entertainment-focused AET Fund has joined the round as a new investor. Prior to this round, the company has raised less than $1 Mn, but got a $1.5 Mn funding shot when it joined the Surge cohort.

The startup plans to use the funds to expand its product offerings in terms of subjects, languages and classes while also expanding its team.

How DoubtNut Got 30X Growth In One Year

Launched in October 2017 by Tanushree Nagori and Aditya Shankar, DoubtNut is a comprehensive learning app. It features a simple vernacular user interface and uses complex AI and ML technologies to serve up answers and video lessons in response to photos of specific problems.

Talking to Inc42, Tanushree Nagori shared that the company has over 3.5 Mn monthly active users. At present, over 90% of its users are from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Nagori also shared that the company has grown over 30X in the last one year. Sarbvir Singh, managing partner, WaterBridge Ventures said that DoubtNut has made a lot of progress over the last one year and they have no doubt that the best is yet to come.

DoubtNut helps students (Classes 6-12 + IIT JEE) get answers to math problems quickly and easily – the student takes a picture of the problem and receives a video explaining the solution, in response to the problem. With over 100K videos in the library prepared by experts from IITs and other leading institutions, the company believes these are a valuable tool for students and can also act as an aid to teachers.

“Tanushree and Aditya’s insights came from their own experience where despite great teaching, they were not able to cater to individual doubt resolutions of students without turning to technology,” said Namita Dalmia, Principal, Investments, Omidyar Network India.

Edtech In India

With the Indian edtech segment expected to grow to a $1.96 Bn market by 2021, leading investors have been showing a lot of interest in this sector. According to Inc42 DataLabs, in 2014 edtech startups raised $32.64 Mn funding across 32 deals, while the Inc42 Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2018 showed that edtech startups received close to $700 Mn in funding across 56 deals.

According to a May 2017 Google-KPMG report, the Indian online education sector may witness up to 8X growth in the next five years, with the growth of BYJU’S, Unacademy, UpGrad, DoubtNut and others in the edtech segment.

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