Toppr raises Rs 350 crore in Series D funding to scale up AI platform
In the latest round of funding in the edtech space, AI-based learning app Toppr has raised Rs 350 crore in Series D funding led by Foundation Holdings.
Other investors including Kaizen Private Equity have also participated in this round. With this, Toppr has now raised a cumulative Rs 700 crore and will use these funds to grow its AI learning platform with over 13 million registered students and to launch new platforms for coding.
This investment will further help to develop the AI-based Toppr School Operating System (OS), a platform for schools to run digitally unifying in-school and after-school learning to create a standardised experience.
“With this investment, we now have the capability and reach to truly revolutionize the K-12 education experience and ensure that no learner is left behind. We are also excited about the launch of the School OS and believe this will be a ground-breaking initiative empowering teachers and schools across the industry,” said Zishaan Hayath, Founder and CEO, Toppr.
Research from HolonIQ forecasts that over $87 billion will be invested in edtech over the next 10 years, almost triple the prior decade. With educational institutes shut down for several months now because of Covid-19, there has been a paradigm shift in the segment from offline to digital.
“In the face of a sudden paradigm shift, online learning now finds itself at the forefront of mainstream learning. For the first time, students everywhere are completely dependent on digital methods to fulfil their daily learning needs,” says Divya Gokulnath, Co-Founder, BYJU’S, which recently became a decacorn recently with its valuation crossing $10 billion.
Earlier this month, live tutoring platform Vedantu also raised $100 million from US-based investment firm Coatue with participation from existing investors, taking the total fund raised to $202 million. According to reports, SoftBank is also in talks to invest $200 million in Facebook-backed Unacademy.
“Unesco states that 1.1 billion students had their schools partially or fully closed by April 2020 due to Covid-19. Education institutions were often scrambling to offer quality e-learning tools. We believe that omni-channel, blended learning is the future and that we are set to sail into the golden age of education and education technology,” said Abhishek Sharma, Chief Executive Officer at Foundation Holdings.
