Bengaluru-based edtech startup Cuemath raises $4M funding from Sequoia Capital
Bengaluru-based edtech startup Cuemath has raised $4 million in Series A funding from Sequoia India and existing investor Unitus Seed Fund to expand its home-based math learning network in India and international markets.
It had raised Rs one crore seed fund from United Seed Fund in 2014.
Cuemath offers a technology platform for women to run home-based learning centres for young students from LKG to class 8. Started in mid-2013, Cuemath claimed to have the fastest growing networks of math learning centres in India. Over 25,000 teachers have applied to be a part of the Cuemath network and the startup has signed over 1200 teachers from this pool.
Cuemath is a technology-driven content platform which combines adaptive and gamified learning with a curriculum that focuses on first-principles learning. According to Manan Khurma, Founder of Cuemath, an IIT Delhi alumnus, company's positioning is simple with razor focused on math, and employ technology, proprietary content, and offline distribution to enable the best learning outcomes. He said,
We don't have any near-term plans of building learning programs for other subjects. Our ambition is to expand our unique math learning program to various cities in India and other geographies outside India. We are looking at a 4-5x growth in the number of teachers and 20 x growths in students by the end of March 2017.
Cuemath’s distribution model focuses on economically empowering especially women, across age groups, making them part of a skilled workforce while giving them the flexibility of working from home.
Abheek Anand, Principal, Sequoia Capital India Advisors, believes that the concept of empowering homemakers and enabling them to run home-based learning centres is something that is both highly scalable and impactful. He said,
This is a company that marries strong performance with a mission to solve a very real problem faced in this country today – how to enable millions of educated, talented women to employ their skills from the flexibility of their home.
Cuemath has 80 employees across Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai. Growing over 4X in six months, the startup plans to get to 5000 teachers by March 2017.
The edutech startup space has witnessed a couple of investments in the past few months. Toppr raised Rs 65 crore for expansion in May, Bengaluru-based Vedantu raising $5 million from Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management, while Simplilearn raised its third round of $ 15 million funding in April this year.
Srikrishna Ramamoorthy, Partner, Unitus Seed Fund mentioned that Cuemath’s unique model helps people in low-mid income segments get access to proven, customised, and affordable math learning solution. He further believes that their deep research on math learning reflects in the strength of their content and more than 25,000 teacher applications demonstrate the interest the program generates in creating micro-entrepreneurship opportunities for qualified and educated women.
