Edtech Startup Toddle Secures $17 Mn Funding From Sequoia Capital, Others

Edtech startup Toddle has secured $17 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Sequoia Capital India.

Tenacity Ventures,Trifecta Capital, and existing investors including Matrix Partners, Beenext, and Better Capital also have participated in the funding round. 

The development comes almost three years after Bengaluru-based Toddle raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding round led by Matrix Partners India. Better Capital and Swiggy’s Rahul Jaimini also participated in the funding round back then.

Set up in 2019 by Deepanshu Arora, Gautam Arora, Misbah Jafary, Nikhil Poonawala, and Parita Parekh, the startup is an education-focussed SaaS platform. It collaborates with IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), in turn, helping students plan, personalise learning and engage with parents. 

“Toddle originally started as a passion project – as teachers, we were using 5 different tools to manage our work and it was a really painful experience. We wanted to build something that will make our lives simple,” said, Deepanshu Arora, cofounder and CEO of Toddle. 

The startup is offering services to more than 40,000 educators at 1,500+ schools in 100+ countries. At present, it helps school teachers collaborate for day-to-day work. Besides that, it also helps educators globally share learning resources with each other.

As per the startup, the global market for school software is projected to cross the $30 Bn mark by 2030. 

“The Toddle founders’ passion for education is palpable and has grown on us in the several years that we have known them. They have poured this passion into building a product which is widely loved by educators around the world. Their school-led approach is refreshing and we are thrilled to partner with them in their quest to transform teaching and learning,” Ashish Agrawal, managing director at Sequoia India, said.

The startup claims that more than 20% of International Baccalaureate (IB) schools across the globe are using its software. It has a presence in the US, UK, Australia, China, and UAE. 

The startup said that it has included international curricula including Cambridge, British, and American in its product offering. Further, it also looks to roll out a product for preschools.

In India, it faces competition from the likes of Canvas LMS, Blackboard Learn and Dyknow Classroom, among others.

Interestingly, the funding announcement has come at a time when India’s edtech sector has lost its momentum and has been suffering setbacks. Edtech giants such as BYJU’S, Unacademy and Vedantu, among others have pivoted their businesses and adopted hybrid business models besides handing over pink slips to many. 

Add to that, in order to slash their losses, edtech players are realigning their operations, closing down unprofitable divisions. 

According to the Inc42 layoff tracker, more than 7,800 employees were laid off by edtech players in 2022 alone.

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