Noida-based edtech startup Qin1, an online learning platform for kids in the age group 5 to 14 years, has raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by India’s first integrated incubator Venture Catalysts.
Others who participated in the round include seasoned investors like Ankit Bhati (Co-founder, Ola), Sundeep Sahni (CCO, Rocket Internet), Mitesh Shah (Venture Catalysts investor and CFO, BookMyShow), and J Curve Series 2 LLP.
Founded in 2019 by IIT alumnus Ishan Gupta and Aarti Gupta, Qin1 focuses on providing extracurricular activities via a digital platform, enabling children with all 21st century relevant skills apart from academics. It offers personalized live classes across various disciplines, including spoken English, coding, robotics, etc.
Qin1 aims to re-imagine kids of 21st century. Its unique proposition lies in its progressive pedagogical approach to making learning more fun and engaging for kids. The startup’s carefully curated courses are created with the help of industry experts and aimed towards the 360-degree development of young children.
Speaking about the company’s works and expressing his excitement on the funding, Ishan Gupta, Co-founder of Qin1, said in a statement,
“Qin1 creates a customizable learning experience for each student – in terms of teacher selection, course design and medium of delivery. We are thrilled to partner with Venture Catalysts in building Qin1. While edtech penetration has grown significantly in recent years, focus on kids in primary and pre-primary schools is missing. This presents an untapped opportunity for Qin1. This investment will help us expand our unique personalized live class offerings to millions of children in India.”
Qin1 provides all-in-one kids classes for everything beyond academics. It doesn’t focus just on IQ or EQ, but on 360-degree Q. The startup believes that passions drive biggest success and happiness in life and so it aims to change a hobby class to passions and building successful careers on it.
Commenting on the investment, Gaurav Jain, Co-founder and Investor, Venture Catalysts, said,
“The COVID-19 pandemic has enabled new opportunities for the edtech market in India. Besides formal education, the extracurricular segment (worth $10 billion) is also projected to experience a meteoric rise in the number of users, buoyed by the offline to online shift. Qin1 is perfectly positioned to capitalize on this growth and become an industry pioneer. We are confident that the latest funding will further accelerate their growth trajectory and help them carve a niche for themselves.”
Meanwhile, Qin1’s funding comes at a time when the edtech sector is witnessing a rapid growth, as educational institutions remain closed due to coronavirus pandemic and students and teachers shifting to online.