HashLearnNow, an on-demand mobile tutoring platform, has emerged as the winner of the third edition of StartEdu competition, organized by Unitus Seed Fund and Sylvant Advisors. HashLearn has won of $7.5K (INR 5 lakh) and got a chance to pitch to Unitus Seed Fund for a seed investment of upto $151K (INR 1 Cr).
StartEdu competition is Unitus Seed Fund’s pan-India education startup competition which identifies, mentors, incubates, and invests in the most promising growth (in-revenue) and early (pre-revenue) stage startups that are committed to serving 20 crore Indian families living on under $303 (INR 20K) per month.
For 2015 third edition competition, the shortlisted participants were mentored by incubators which had participated in Unitus’ Speed2Seed Program. This is made possible in part through a global development agreement with USAID. The most promising early stage (pre-revenue) company is to be given an opportunity to receive ongoing mentoring and incubation support from one of Speed2Seed Accelerator Partners.
The top 10 finalists had pitched to a panel of experts in Indian education startups, including Madan Padaki of Sylvant Advisors, Srikanth Iyer formerly of Pearson Education, Anand Daniel of Accel Partners, Alok Mittal formerly of Canaan Partners, and Will Poole of Unitus Seed Fund.
Here are the details of the winners and shortlisted startups:
Runner Up
Les Transformations: It is working successfully towards transforming teachers with the use of psychology, data innovation and technology.
Will Poole, managing partner of Unitus Seed Fund, said, “Selecting a winner and runner-up was not easy. We wish all of the contestants the most success as they develop their businesses.”
Les Tranformations has won the opportunity to work with Speed2Seed.
Other finalists included:
BodhiSutra: The company helps working professionals become fluent in English through live one-on-one practice sessions with trainers all over India on mobile.
Buddy4Study: Buddy4Study connects thousands of scholarship schemes to needy, talented students & helps them in their application process on time.
Edufactors Pvt. Ltd.: It runs a parent driven program for kids of ages 5 to 12 which contains 1 tutor sheet and 5 worksheets for the kids to do the following week Monday through Friday.
LearnAnand Technologies: Its product WordsMaya helps students and professionals improve communication English through WhatsApp.
Leanrapt: It brings together Art, Pedagogy, and Technology to build a network of learners, mentors, and publishers, and create memorable learning experiences.
Nexus Consulting: Nexus makes knowledge fun and interesting for audiences through curated content & quizzes, and delivers education, entertainment & engagement.
Vibrant International Training & Consulting Private Limited: It provides campus placements for final year Engg & MBA students by training them on all pre-requisites as required by the prospective employers.
YoungCurrent: It provides with News for Kids, aggregated from child-friendly news publishers and served to each child’s reading abilities, personalized with assessments & reports.
Founded in 2012, Unitus Seed Fund is part of the Unitus Group, a premier financial services group operating in India and other emerging markets. The $23 Mn Unitus Seed Fund has invested in sectors including healthcare, education, mobile & consumer, retail & commerce, financial services and agriculture.
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