Education startup Playto Labs raises Rs 4 cr in seed funding from IPV

Education Startup Playto Labs raised over Rs 4 crore in a seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures, one of India’s largest angel investment platforms. The funds raised will be used in building a strong team and expanding its customer base.

The round also saw individual participation from partners of the upcoming fund Disruptors Capital, including Raj Snehil Juneja (chief investment officer), Krishna Kumar (founder, Simplilearn), Kunal Walia (founder, Simpliwork) and Shashwat Kumar (managing partner, Khetal Advisors), and entrepreneurs including Tonmoy Shingal and Ketan Kapoor (founders, Mettl), Sachin Sharma (founder, Townscript), Rajesh Razdan (founder, Devtron Labs) and Kuldeep Dhankar (SVP, CleverTap) among others.

Vinay Bansal, founder & CEO, Inflection Point Ventures, said, “Playto model is helping parents and their children to harness technology in a much more positive way where kids are learning something new and keeping themselves engaged in a constructive manner. Given the technology exposure in India, this is a booming market which got us interested in backing Playto.”  

Playto Labs has a combination of hardware toys and online 1-1 sessions with teachers who act as facilitators. Their pedagogy makes students feel like they are playing while studying.

Pavan Ponnaganti, founder & CEO, Playto Labs, an IIT Kanpur alum, said, “Toys are a great way of learning for kids. Through Playto Labs, we are building products that make play a more relevant learning method for kids above 7 years. The goal is to make kids truly enjoy science and tech, and we believe that is how the real innovators of the future will emerge. We currently offer Robotics products for kids, and we are delighted with the feedback we have been receiving from students and parents across the globe. We are launching more products soon,” he added.

Within a year of launching, Playto Labs' products for kids already have paying customers from 33 countries, and have seen strong month-on-month growth.

Globally, educational toys market is expected to reach $34 billion by 2025 according to a report by Orbis Research.