Venture Catalysts backs EdTech startup Qin1

As the novel coronavirus cases continue to spread, Venture Catalysts, India’s first, largest and pioneering integrated incubator and accelerator platform, has set its eyes on a booming sector – EdTech. The venture capital fund recently invested an undisclosed amount in EdTech startup Qin1. SKS advisors helped Qin1 in closing this transaction. 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 also participated in the funding round.

Founded by IIT alumnus Ishan Gupta and Aarti Gupta, Qin1 is a learning platform for Kids in the age group 5 to 14 yrs. The startup is focussed on providing extracurricular activities to children via a digital platform. Qin1 offers personalized live classes across various disciplines including spoken English, coding, robotics etc.,

What sets Qin1 apart  from other edtech startups is it’s progressive pedagogical approach to making learning more fun and engaging for kids The  carefully curated courses with the help of industry experts are aimed towards the 360-degree development of young children.

Speaking on the funding, 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.”

Expressing his views on the funding, Ishan Gupta, Co-founder of Qin1, added, “Qin1 creates a customized 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 offering  to millions of children in India.”

Venture Catalyst’s investment in Qin1 comes at a time when the EdTech sector is poised for rapid growth. As educational institutes remain closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, students and teachers have shifted online. Given these circumstances, EdTech companies will likely be amongst the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic.