Gurugram-based education technology startup DoubtNut has secured $3.3 million (Rs 23 crore at current exchange rates) in a round led by Surge, the startup accelerator and incubator platform of venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, a statement by the startup said.
Existing investors WaterBridge Ventures and Omidyar Network India also participated in the round. Akatsuki Entertainment Technology Fund (AET Fund), the investment arm of Japanese gaming company Akatsuki Inc. came on board as a new investor, the statement added.
The company will use the capital to further develop its product offerings in terms of subjects, languages and classes, and expand its team, said the statement.
“We are using technology to solve students’ biggest pain point and aim to provide a comprehensive education solution to all students in the language and manner that they understand the best,” said Tanushree Nagori, co-founder of DoubtNut.
Operated by Class 21A Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the startup was founded in October 2017 by IIT Delhi alumni Nagori and Aditya Shankar.
It runs a multi-lingual online learning platform for students and is available on the Google Play Store. The startup uses artificial intelligence to provide solutions to math problems. Students can upload a photo of their query or doubt in maths and the startup will send them a video with a solution within 8-10 seconds, it claims.
“Their (founders) passion led them to launch the app in 12 vernacular languages in a really short time and creating relevant learning journeys for the next half billion users,” said Namita Dalmia, principal at investments, Omidyar Network India.
The startup claims that over 90% of DoubtNut users study in Tier 2 and 3 cities, and much of the growth continues to come from outside India’s larger metropolitan centers. The app is currently ranked among the top 10 free education apps on the Google Play Store in India, as per the founders.
Other ed-tech deals
The broader ed-tech sector has received considerable investor interest in recent months.
Byju’s, India’s best-funded ed-tech startup, saw its valuation cross the $5-billion mark in March this year when it raised $31.3 million in a fresh round of funding led by existing investors General Atlantic and Tencent Holdings.
Last December, South African technology conglomerate Naspers led a $540-million (Rs 3,855 crore then) investment round in Byju’s.
In December 2018, Toppr, another well-funded ed-tech startup, had raised $35 million (Rs 245 crore then) in a Series C funding round from new and existing investors.
