Edtech startup Bhanzu has raised $16.5 million funding in a round led by venture capital firm Epiq Capital. This gives Hyderabad-based the company a valuation of around $120-122 million. Mumbai-based venture fund Z3Partners also participated in the round, with existing investors Lightspeed Ventures and Eight Roads also putting in money.
PC: Techiexpert.com
Bhanzu will use the newly raised capital mainly to scale up its presence in the US and build up its capabilities in Gen AI. Neelakantha Bhanu, founder and chief executive, said the company has made tremendous progress in the US market, finding a product-market fit that calls for further expansion. They will be spending most of our capital exploring the US market because we’ve found our product-market fit. Expansion there and building a slightly larger leadership team is one priority, he said.
The company also focuses on Gen AI, the area in which it innovated for two years now. Bhanu said Bhanzu already launched several products that use the advanced AI technology and will also develop more advanced asynchronous learning tools. AI is one of the trends going on in the education sector where technology has been extensively used to boost learning.
Since the 2022 funding round, Bhanzu boasts enormous growth and scaling eight times within the user base and sufficient cash flow. The company derives its traction in not only India but in other key markets-the US, UK, and the Middle East. Bhanu revealed that it splits India and US accounts equally and brings in the rest of the revenue from other global markets.
Founded in 2020, Bhanzu only offers the full mathematics curriculum as online courses to kindergarten to Grade 9 students. The startup has targeted revenues of ₹100-120 crore this current financial year with a tremendous growth curve in a highly competitive ed-tech space.
It is a strategic shift for Bhanzu to target global expansion rather than customer acquisition, which most edtech companies do. This is meant to boost its presence in the marketplace without the pitfalls that entail high acquisition expenses of customers.
Even edtech companies are still raising capital, and there are a few such companies that have recently received funds. There are a few players such as PhysicsWallah, Eruditus, and Upgrad who have made some good agreements that show much interest in educational technology products.
For his part, Chinmay Katdare at Epiq Capital commented on investment into the company, saying that Bhanzu has evolved as a math learning platform in a global space. He underlined the approach of the company, which has been different, unique, pedagogically supported along with advanced AI technologies in bringing positive learning outcomes across different regions.
According to Rishi Maheshwari, managing partner at Z3Partners, this investment goes with the focus of the firm on outcome-driven education and the strong growth potential attached to unit economics of Bhanzu.
Overall, the new funding round for Bhanzu marks a very important step toward becoming one of the world’s leading edtech companies. The company is likely to capitalize on AI and continue its expansion in the US so it is better positioned to capitalize on the bright future that innovative educational solutions promise for the global edtech industry.
