BrightChamps, an Indian edtech startup that is attempting to bridge the learning gap left by K12 schools, said on Monday it has raised $51 million in a new financing round and $63 million since launching a year ago as the Goa-headquartered firm looks to expand its footprints in over 10 nations.
The startup, which is valued at nearly $500 million in the new financing round led by Premji Invest (the private investment office of technology billionaire Azim Premji), teaches kids programming and other skills in over 10 markets including several in Southeast Asia, as well as the U.S., and Canada, BrightChamps co-founder and chief executive Ravi Bhushan told TechCrunch in an interview.
Bhushan, who was homeschooled and previously served as the chief technology and product officer at property portal PropTiger, said schools across the world are failing to teach kids several important life skills. “It’s not an India problem. Schools across the globe are teaching kids how to change the style of text in Microsoft Word in the name of technology,” he said.
The startup — which has amassed over a hundred thousand registered students, and achieved profitability — is “building a ‘weapon of mass instruction’ and is leading the disruptive wave which will make India one of the largest exporters of transformative digital education,” said Deborah Quazo, Managing partner at GSV Ventures, in a statement. TechCrunch reported in July that BrightChamps was engaging with investors to raise money at over $500 million valuation.
Over a thousand teachers across the globe have joined BrightChamps to teach kids, Bhushan said. “Children have the option to learn skills in any local language they prefer,” he said, adding that the startup is working to expand its offerings. It will soon add financial literacy to its curriculum, he said.
Bhushan said the startup’s growth has been completely organic so far and it has not used any money raised from the investors. “We are growing solely with the money we have earned from our customers,” he said.
BrightChamps has been one of the most talked startups in India in the past one year and has already been approached by one of the largest edtech giants in the country with a buyout offer, TechCrunch has learned.
The startup, which spoke for the first time last week after TechCrunch approached it to confirm the funding round, said it intended to announce its offerings and earlier financing round last year, but decided against it because it didn’t want to celebrate a milestone at a time when the home nation was trying to fight the pandemic.
Bhushan declined to comment on any acquisition offer BrightChamps has received, but said he is building the startup with a very long-term vision and is …….