Flinto Learning Solutions Pvt. Ltd, a startup that offers activity-based education kits for children, has raised $7.2 million (Rs 53 crore) in a pre-Series B funding round led by existing investor Lightbox Ventures.
Flinto will use the capital mainly to expand its newly launched preschool service Flintoclass@HOME, it said in a statement. The service, launched amid the COVID-19 pandemic, offers education kits to children at their homes.
“Every month, parents receive at their doorstep an easy-to-use preschool kit with daily hands-on activities for children, along with pre-recorded interactive sessions with our educators,” said co-founder Arunprasad Durairaj.
Prashant Mehta, partner at Lightbox, said Flinto is becoming more relevant, especially during the COVID-19 crisis when the primary place of learning and development is turning out to be home.
Flinto was founded by Durairaj, Vijay Babu Gandhi and Shreenidhi Srirangam in 2013. The company caters to children in the age group of two to 12 years. It focuses on children’s learning and development at home and preschool through Flintobox, a service that delivers theme-based monthly activity box.
The company has also expanded in the unorganised preschool segment through its offering FlintoClass, which has reached over 700 pre-schools across eight countries.
Flinto had, in 2017, raised $7 million in a Series A round led by Lightbox. Previously, it also secured funding from US-based venture capital firm Globevestor and venture capitalist Ashwin Chadha.
In 2018, the company mobilised debt funding from InnoVen Capital.
The investment in Flinto underlines continuing investor interest in education-technology startups as the lockdowns and school closures because of the pandemic have increased demand for services provided by these firms.
Reports on Monday suggested that ed-tech giant Byju’s was in advanced talks to acquire learning app Doubtnut to expand its reach in smaller cities. Byju’s itself raised funding last week from Bond Capital, a US-based investment firm co-founded by well-known venture capitalist Mary Meeker.
Last week, VCCircle reported that online tutoring platform Vedantu Innovations Pvt. Ltd had made an investment in an ed-tech startup based in the National Capital Region.
In June, the ed-tech arm of Sai Estate Consultants Chembur Pvt. Ltd raised funding from Bollywood actor-producer and entrepreneur Suniel Shetty. Also last month, Inflection Point Ventures invested $150,000 in Edvizo Media Pvt Ltd, a startup that acts as a marketplace for competitive examination institutes.
