Walnut Knowledge Solutions Pvt Ltd, which operates child-focussed learning firm QShala, has raised Rs 2.7 crore ($366,930) in angel funding.
The round in Bengaluru-based QShala has been led by Rainmatter Capital, the startup incubator and fund backed by trading platform Zerodha. Other participants in the round include Mindtree co-founder Kalyan Banerjee and former Lowe Lintas director Preeti Sawhney.
Those who also took part in the round were Qwikcilver chief technology officer Sanjay Tambwekar, former Oracle India vice-president Suresh Kumar Pinglay, Uptycs India head Chetan Vinchhi, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas partner Avinash Umapathy, Reforge product and strategy lead Akshita Ganesh and Ubiquity Capital Nikhil Bhandarkar.
QShala, set up in 2014, says its platform is designed to nurture curiosity in children, through programmes such as quizzes, focussed sessions, and interactive content. The firm starts with children from Class-I and covers several age groups.
“These investments re-inforce our belief in QShala’s curriculum, learning experience and the platform through which we address the need for developing skills and aptitudes in young minds,” startup co-founder Raghav Chakravarthy said.
Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath said the investment will help meet the goal of introducing children to subjective learning, making it easier to build skill sets required for employability.
QShala’s parent, Walnut Knowledge Solutions, also operates quizzing programmes and says it has engaged with over 1.5 lakh people in the last 10 years.
This is Rainmatter’s latest bet on a startup. The incubation platform-cum-fund says it provides capital and workspaces to companies that it backs.
It has invested in startups such as options trading platform Sensibull and digital learning platform LearnApp.
Last month, it participated in a $1.4 million (around Rs 10 crore) seed funding round in Terra.do Inc., which operates an online climate school. Other investors in the round included Singapore-based Beenext and Stanford Angels & Entrepreneurs (India).
Then, in March this year, Rainmatter led a Rs 3 crore (nearly $400,000) seed funding round in fitness-focussed live-streaming platform ImStrong. In December last year, Rainmatter committed Rs 2 crore (around $280,613) in seed funding to Quicko Infosoft Pvt. Ltd, a startup focussed on tax filing.
