Thinkerbell Labs raises 1.3 cr from IAN, Anand Mahindra

Thinkerbell Labs, which makes literacy devices for visually impaired, has received angel investment of 1.3 crore from Indian Angel Network and Anand Mahindra.
The angel round was led by Rajesh Navaneetham and Manjunath Nayak from IAN, while Anand Mahindra (Chairman and MD of Mahindra Group) invested in the company in his personal capacity, Thinkerbell Labs said in a statement.
The startup will be utilizing the funds to run pilots in the UK, setting up product, sales and content teams, it added.
Navaneetham will sit on the board of ThinkerBell Labs representing IAN.
Founded in 2016, Thinkerbell Labs aims to eliminate the problem of low literacy among visually impaired people all over the world.

The team was earlier working under the name Project Mudra, and recently changed it to Thinkerbell Labs.

The startup's flagship product, Annie, addresses the pain point of low Braille literacy among the visually impaired by helping them learn how to read, write and type in Braille.
Annie can be used directly by children and young people with visual impairment to self-learn Braille and be monitored by the teachers or parents, the statement said.
"We believe that their (investors') network and skills would be a significant addition to our team and would certainly help us in our quest to build inclusive economic growth by dramatically increasing the literacy rate of Braille world over," Thinkerbell Labs co-founder Sanskriti Dawle said.