Kids Skilling Startup Kyt Raises $5 Mn In Series A Round Led By Alpha Wave

Bengaluru and Singapore-based edtech platform Kyt has raised $5 Mn in a Series A funding round led by Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI) a venture fund managed by Falcon Edge Capital. The round also included participation from Sequoia Capital India’s Surge, January Capital, Titan Capital and other angel investors. For Singapore-based January Capital, the Kyt funding marks its first investment in an Indian company. 

Kyt will use the funds to expand its operations to Abu Dhabi and use the Emirate as its regional headquarters for targeting the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), MENA (Middle East/North Africa) and other global markets. Kyt will also look to hire data scientists, product managers and engineers located in Abu Dhabi.

Founded in June 2020 by Bhavik Rathod and Tripti Ahuja, Kyt runs online-only extracurricular courses by combining live classes with video-based revision materials for children from ages 5 to 15 years, in a full-stack model. With flexible private and small group sessions, Kyt offers courses across disciplines such as yoga, dance, music, chess, etc., to students around the world.  

The company claims to have a few thousand users who’ve taken classes on the platform. Kyt says that its users are doubling on a monthly basis, while it has more than 20 teachers on board, a number it wants to scale to 500 in the next 12 months. 

Kyt has secured exclusive partnerships with top educators and artists to increase children’s love of learning, including Indian chess Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, Mumbai based vocalists Kamakshi & Vishala, Philippines’ hip-hop legend Ruel Varindani, and celebrity yoga instructor Sabrina Merchant. Kyt plans to add more courses, including speech and debate, spelling bees, guitar and keyboard among others.

“With Kyt, we are going beyond conventional academic learning by building an academy that nurtures holistic and all-round development of children. It is essential to foster children’s interests and encourage learning that equips them with creative and real-world skills; thereby moulding their individual strengths and making them more confident,” said Bhavik Rathod, the cofounder and CEO at Kyt.

“This new investment will greatly boost our efforts in providing a well-structured curriculum, designed by pedagogy experts and education consultants to help each child realise their potential,” he added. 

Kyt is also backed by prominent angel investors including Allen Penn, Kunal Bahl, Rohit Bansal, Amrish Rau, Kunal Shah, Jitendra Gupta, Martin Li, Apremeya Radhakrishna, Anand Chandrasekaran and Akhil Paul.

Kyt had last raised funds in November 2020, worth $2.5 Mn in a round led by Sequoia Surge. 

Edtech has always been pegged as a great equaliser that could deliver access to good education in remote areas. According to Inc42 Plus analysis, the market size of edtech in India is estimated to grow 3.7x in the next five years, from $2.8 Bn (2020) to $10.4 Bn (2025). 

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