Inc42 Daily Brief
Stay Ahead With Daily News & Analysis on India’s Tech & Startup Economy
Shirsa Labs, a content driven engagement learning platform for kids, has raised $250K in angel round of funding, led via ah! Ventures. The funds raised will help the startup to further strengthen and expand its team.
Founded in 2013 by Sukhada Tendulkar and Mandar Desai, Shirsa labs aims to stimulate the intellectual and learning skills of children by providing an effective combination of online and offline interactive methods which include various games, worksheets, videos and DIYs, aimed at engaging kids and boosting their cognitive learning.
“Our scalability and real life connect positions us uniquely to deliver significant value to the young ones. Through the online Economy, Children earn Geekos (the currency on the platform) which they spend to buy uniquely matched stuff from the platform. As we understand the child more on the platform through analytics, we generate insights and personalized recommendations for parents”, said Mandar Desai, co-founder and CFO of Shirsa Labs.
It uses an online engagement platform to entertain and educate kids between the age group of 6-13. The platform is named after Joy Paul Guilford whose theory ‘Structure of Intellect’ was considered as a major breakthrough that impacted schools, teachers and parents around the world. Shirsha Labs aims to make its flagship product, the ‘Planet of Gui’ app, rank no. 1 in the edutainment industry, thereby eyeing a global market.
Shirsa, currently, has over 70000+ registered students, access to over 2000+ schools and a unique content sharing partnership with NatGeo, Discovery and others.
The startup has an ambitious plan to target a large market. India has over 100 Mn students enrolled in K1-K8. The enrolment percentage in private schools in India have also gone up, from 18% in 2006 to 30% today. Shirsa aims to capture this market through its multi-pronged approach by using both virtual and real world tools to create a holistic product.
The investment from ah! Ventures will make Shirsa the second edtech startup to raise funds from ah! Ventures. Previously, the firm has invested in iDreamCareer.
Founded in 2010, ah! Ventures identifies itself as a growth catalyst, bringing together promising businesses and investors by creating wealth creation opportunities.
Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.