Bangalore-based Gyankosh Pvt Ltd, the company behind flipClass, an online marketplace for home tutors that also allows parents to check their kids’ performance through the platform, has raised Rs 1.5 crore (under $250,000) in funding from LetsVenture, an online platform that connects startups with accredited investors.
The round was led by Hareesh Ramanna, founder of Singapore-based BlueCap Mobile Holdings, with participation from five other unnamed individuals.
“We will be using the funds to enhance our technology platform, in addition to expanding our operations to Hyderabad,†flipClass CTO Sharad Lal told VCCircle/Techcircle.in. “We are also in talks with a few institutional investors to raise about $4-5 million in Series A funding, which will be used to expand to other cities, including Pune, Mumbai and Delhi,†he added.
The startup was founded last year by serial entrepreneur Vineet Dwivedi, who holds B Tech and M Tech degrees from IIT Kanpur. He had also earlier founded Amogha Infotech, which was acquired by Xora Inc in 2005, and Career Mantra, which was acqui-hired by TutorVista in March 2010. In the past, he had worked at companies including Infosys, Kyocera, Openera Technologies and Pearson Plc.
flipClass says it provides qualified, background-checked and trained home tutors in Bangalore. It also provides a platform for the parents to check the progress of their wards. Through its technology and standard teaching material and process, the learning outcomes are defined and tracked by the platform, while home tutors are used to facilitate learning. The student’s assessment on the platform is used to guide the tutors to ensure the required learning outcome.
The company offers an app through which students are connected 24×7 and can get access to live help. The app also enables them to chat with other students and form groups, conduct quizzes, live contests, take tests, play games and watch videos.
flipClass claims to have more than 1,500 tutors and 500 students in subjects like mathematics and science for classes 1-12, as well as for languages like Hindi, English, Spanish and French. While most of its customers are parents of school going children, some of them are adults looking to learn new languages.
Business model
The student needs to pay a one-time registration fee. Then he/she is charged between Rs 3,000-10,000 per month, depending on the number of hours of tutoring required. As for tutors, the company shares with them around 20-30 per cent of the revenue it earns from its platform and other services like content, etc.
flipClass also claims to have a run rate of Rs 4 crore per annum, and a margin of around 25 per cent. As of now, the startup claims to have completed 5,000 hours of tutoring.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
