English learning platform Freadom raises $2.5 mn from Capital A, others

Freadom, an English learning platform for 3–12-year-olds, has raised $2.5 million in a funding round led by Capital A and other marquee investors including Bollywood star Tiger Shroff, BharatPe Founder Ashneer Grover, VMart Retail Founder Lalit Agarwal, and Global PayU CFO Aakash Moondhara to name a few.

Several existing investors, including Unreasonable Capital, Quantiphi founding team, and Singapore Angels group, also participated in the round. The funding will be invested in product, distribution and to further strengthen Freadom’s vertical presence across stakeholders for English as a second language.

Launched in 2016 after 8 years of intensive grassroot level research in learning and reading science ― Freadom equips children to learn to read in English in any country where it is an aspirational second language, via its recommendation engine; built in collaboration with Stanford University to drive English language learning. Freadom’s own published research shows that children who supplement app learning with their Live classes end up learning 2x faster.

“Learning a language like English should be fun and engaging and we prioritize this at Freadom. The success of Freadom lies at the intersection of our innovative pedagogical approach and advanced AI technology that makes language learning accessible for every child between the ages of 3 and 12. The goal is to create impact at scale and prioritize long-term learning outcomes over short-term gains,” said Nikhil Saraf, founder of Freadom.

“Capital A has been backing startups with great potential in different sectors. This investment in the Edutech domain is our first one and we are extremely upbeat about the potential of this segment in the years ahead – a growth that has also been induced by the pandemic.  said Ankit Kedia, angel investor turned VC and CEO of Capital A that led the funding round.

On his decision to invest in the company, Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff said, “The youth of a nation are its future and a stepping stone for economic growth. Being well-versed in a language like English can give them immense confidence personally and in all walks of life, especially in the current fast-changing global village. In this regard, Freadom is doing great work and I look forward to their growth trajectory and outcomes in the times to come.”

The Freadom team has leveraged their research and partners like Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon Speech to deliver big outcomes to young learners.