Ronnie Screwvala invests in 21K School; First ‘online only Indian school’ raises Pre Series A funding
Bengaluru: The first online-only school in India – 21K School – has recently raised Pre Series A funding of $5 million from Ronnie Screwvala, Co-Founder and Chairman, upGrad. 21K School was founded in 2020 by Santosh Kumar, Yeshwanth Raj Parasmal, Dinesh Kumar and Joshi Kumar to create a 100% online school offering children aged 3 to 18 years a choice of three curriculums – Indian, American and British.
21K School’s K-12 education model disrupts the EdTech space as a category creator with personalised, affordable and flexible schooling for students regardless of their location or time zone. The company already has over 2,750 students enrolled from over 400 cities across India and 23 countries. With 21K School, families no longer need to migrate to urban cities to give their children access to high-quality schools.
The company aims to deploy the funds raised to augment its outreach to students in India and abroad and strengthen its learning platform for data-driven instruction across all curriculums. 21K School is targeting to scale 10X to over 25,000 to 30,000 admissions in the next academic year.
Visionary EdTech Entrepreneur, Ronnie Screwvala, said, “The future of education is here, and it’s changing the way we think about schooling. 21K School will offer great value to students while disrupting traditional schools in its own space with interactive technologies that engage learners on every level of development. I am excited to support Santosh and Yeshwanth as they aim to expand within India and internationally.”
Santosh Kumar, Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, 21K School, said, “Online schools like 21K School can offer equal opportunity and access to millions of students in India or across the globe. The investment by Ronnie will help us reach out to over 18 million Indians living abroad with an opportunity to study the increasingly popular Indian Curriculum while they continue to live overseas.”
Yeshwanth Raj Parasmal, Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer, 21K School, added, “The investment will help us strengthen our flexible, personalised and transparent education model, ensuring that students get the best possible learning experience. The 21K crew joins me in thanking Ronnie for their belief in our vision!”
21K School blends technology, neuroscience and AI to create data-driven instruction for students using proprietary LMS, Personalised Learning Engine, Assessment Engine and curriculum content. Intending to replicate the formal K-12 School experience online, 21K School teaches all core subjects and skill-based activities, without compromising on the academic rigour. Conducting regular assessments for its students, 21K School also includes computational thinking, coding, yoga, dance, music, etc. as an integral part of schooling.
This Pre Series A fundraise was facilitated by Loestro Advisors LLP, led by Rakesh Gupta.