PlayShifu, founded by Vivek Goyal ('08) and Dinesh Advani ('08), raises Rs 124 crore in Series B round
Money Control (April 6, 2021)
PlayShifu raises Rs 124 crore in Series B round, valued at Rs 500 crore
Augmented reality startup PlayShifu has raised Rs 124 crore in its Series B round of funding, valuing it at Rs 480-500 crore. While the round was led by Inventus Capital, the other investors in the round include Inflexor Ventures, Chiratae Ventures, and Bharat Innovation Fund. PlayShifu co-founder and CEO Vivek Goyal told Moneycontrol that the funds will be used for product and geographical expansion.
Founded in 2016 by Vivek Goyal and Dinesh Advani, graduates of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, PlayShifu makes educational toys powered by Augmented Reality (AR) to create a physical and digital learning experience for kids, especially in areas such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The company claims to have grown 150% year on year in terms of revenue for the third consecutive year. It didn't share the revenue numbers.
“With screen time for children ages 4 to 9 averaging as high as five hours per day, we have a responsibility to help kids develop their early-learning skills in this digital age. Our products offer rich and variable content that engages children ten times better than the top 25 apps worldwide. We plan to expand our product range from 12 to 30 products to cover over 20 early-learning skills by 2022," Goyal said.
PlayShifu has also grown its online and retail presence immensely. Due to several new global brick-and-mortar and e-commerce partnerships, the brand is now available in 35 countries, a rapid expansion from just 15 countries in 2019.
The company last raised $7 million in a Series A round from Chiratae, Inventus Capital, and Bharat Innovation Fund (BIF). Existing investor IDFC-Parampara Fund also participated in the round. (Access the original article)