Kafqa Academy, a global performing arts academy offering courses in dance, music, speech and drama has acquired Verb Studio, one of the largest dance academies in India.
This acquisition provides Kafqa with greater distribution and content on social media, as well as a complementary age range of 15+ years as a demographic.
As a part of the deal, the Verb Studio team will join Kafqa, bringing the total number of individuals to 160.
Founded by a former director at Amazon, Shariq Plasticwala in 2021, Kafqa Academy enables users to learn from the convenience of their home & in tier 2+ cities, the academy facilitates access to a world-class performing arts curriculum where instructors are unavailable. Most importantly, the curriculum is constantly updated & designed backwards from outcomes that are desired. These outcomes are clearly defined as content pieces that combine the core art & content creation skills. Classes are conducted in batches, enabling more affordable price points to be offered to students. Additionally, workshops are offered on how to create content & performance videos.
Bengaluru-based company’s vision is to create a global performing arts academy serving learners while nurturing an artists’ community by offering them opportunities.
Speaking on the partnership with Verb Studio, Founder and CEO of Kafqa Academy, Shariq Plasticwala, said:
“The team has carefully built and nurtured a dance community providing them with relevant content. We felt their strength in community building within the young adults’ age group of 16-25 complements our current strengths. We look forward to partnering with Bharath and his team to create the world’s largest performing arts academy for learners across ages.”
Verb Studio, started in 2018 by Bharath Kumar J and Ilangovan KS, two National Institute of Technology graduates (NIT) with the aim to make everyone able to learn to dance at VERB. Using the power of technology, the platform provides a one-of-a-kind experience akin to that of a dancing studio. To assist its customers to reach their dancing objectives, it connects them with well-respected and skilled teachers. The company’s goal is to become the major centre for anything dance-related. It focuses on making dance learning enjoyable and simple for everyone.
The startup offers more than 200 classes and 30+ different dance forms ranging from belly dancing, hip hop, Bollywood, and locking. It also has options such as Indian folk and classical dancing like Manipuri, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Chhau, Garba, Bhangra, Lavani, Kuthu, and many others. The platform also provides free live classes. It claims to have over 350,000 clients, 150,000 social media subscribers, and 300+ unique material from prominent dance teachers.
Last year in October, Kafqa Academy had raised $1.3 million in its pre-launch funding round from leading institutional investors & tech entrepreneurs. The round was led by Global Founders Capital (GFC) and saw participation from institutional investors such as Enzia Ventures and Better Capital. Angel investors including Kunal Shah (Founder & CEO of CRED), Ashish Hemrajani, among others.
