BrightChamps is an Indian edtech startup. It aims to close the learning gap created by K12 schools. The firm, which is based in Goa, has announced Monday that it raised $51 million and $63 million. This comes as the Goa-based company looks to expand its reach in more than 10 countries.
Premji Invest, the private investment office of tech billionaire Azim Premji, has valued the startup at almost $500 million. The startup teaches programming to children in more than 10 countries, including many in Southeast Asia. TechCrunch spoke with Ravi Bhushan, BrightChamps chief executive and co-founder.
Bhushan was home-schooled, and he previously held the position of chief technology officer and product officer at PropTiger. He said that schools around the world are failing children to learn important life skills. This is not a problem in India. He said that schools around the world are teaching students how to modify the style of Microsoft Word text. This is all in the name technology.
The startup, which has more than 100 thousand students registered and has achieved profitability, is building a weapon for mass instruction. It is also leading the disruptive wave that will make India the largest exporter of transformative digital education. Deborah Quazo, managing partner at GSV Ventures, stated in a statement. TechCrunch reported that BrightChamps was working with investors to raise funds at a valuation of over $500 million in July.
BrightChamps has more than a thousand teachers around the world who have signed up to teach children, Bhushan stated. He said that children can learn skills in any language they choose, and that the startup is constantly expanding its offerings. He said that the startup will soon include financial literacy in its curriculum.
Bhushan stated that the startup's growth has been organic and has not relied on any capital raised by investors. He said that we are only growing with the money earned from customers.
BrightChamps is one of India's most talked-about startups over the past year. TechCrunch learned that BrightChamps was approached by one the country's largest edtech companies with a buyout proposal.
After TechCrunch approached the startup to confirm the funding round, the startup spoke for the first-time last week. It stated that it had intended to announce the offerings and an earlier financing round in the past year but chose not to do so because it did not want to celebrate a significant milestone at a time where the country was fighting the pandemic.
Bhushan refused to comment on any BrightChamps acquisition offers, but stated that he is building BrightChamps with a long-term vision and not seeking short-term transactions. As you can see, education has been my passion from childhood. He said that he was here to create an iconic brand.
BrightChamps has a lot of whitespace within the market in which it operates. He said this when he was asked how they plan to use the new funds. One area is the possibility of children learning from one another. It has been tested. We are now going to launch a peer to peer experience. He also said that the startup hopes to eventually build a platform similar to Stack Overflow for children. He said that we are also interested in hosting olympiads or tech hackathons.
BrightChamps is looking for opportunities to acquire firms that share its mission, he stated.
Brightchamps was founded in 2012 and has grown rapidly to be one of the most successful Edtech companies in the countries it serves. Brightchamps leverages Human Resources worldwide to deliver personalised experiences and a unique ability to hyper differentiate learning paths. This is how Premji Invest's Managing Partner, T Kurien, stated in a statement.
