Kreedo Early Childhood Solutions raises $4M in Series A funding

Kreedo Early Childhood Solutions, a Bengaluru-based startup that offers end-to-end solutions to transform the way early learning is delivered in schools, has raised $4 million in Series A funds round.

The round was led by Singapore-based Heritas Capital and existing investor UBS Optimus Foundation, and also saw participation from other existing investors including Gray Matters Capital, 1Crowd, The Chennai Angels, The Joka Angel Network and others.

What does Kreedo do?

Kreedo was founded in 2012 by husband-and-wife team Mridula Shridhar and VK Manikandan, both IIM-C alumni, to change the quality of education delivered in affordable private schools and pre-schools in the early years.

The startup partners with private schools and affordable preschools and transforms the way learning is delivered in the early years.

Kreedo said its unique 6T learning framework is an innovative model centered around Kreedo Activity Labs that provides a structured environment for play-based learning.

6T includes toys, technology, theory (books), teacher training, timetables and teamwork (peer learning) that ensure partner schools achieve high learning outcomes for children in the foundation years.

Currently, it caters to children in the age group of 3-8 years (nursery to second grade), in accordance with the play-based guidelines prescribed in the NEP 2020 for the foundation stage of learning.

By establishing activity labs and providing ongoing support and training to teachers, Kreedo offers a comprehensive solution that empowers and supports schools to significantly improve learning outcomes.

Kreedo’s presence in the market

Kreedo also says it has doubled its revenue and expanded its reach from 700 to 1,700 schools and preschools in the past two years.

The number of children benefiting from its programs has also grown from 55,000 to more than 140,000, the startup said.

Purpose of fundraising

Kreedo plans to use the capital raised to enhance its product offering and expand into new geographies in India.

“With the current round, we will be taking Kreedo to more geographies in India. With demand from our school partners, we also plan to expand our product offering for grades 3-5 and enhance Practico, our digital home learning platform,” said Mridula Shridhar, Co-Founder, Kreedo.

“We will also be expanding our specialized pre-school teacher training franchise program, which will create a pool of qualified and ready teachers to work in Kreedo partner schools as well as in the broader early education market. All of these initiatives align with our overall goal of democratizing and changing the early education landscape in India,” Shridhar added.

Investor Comments

Dhun Davar, Head of Social Finance at UBS Optimus Foundation and Head of Social Impact and Philanthropy for India and the Middle East at UBS, said: “The UBS Optimus Foundation aims to create transformative and scalable impact for marginalized communities globally and locally. Our partner, Kreedo, has helped us achieve this in India by improving access to quality early childhood and primary education and, with our support, aims to reach over one million Indian children in the coming years.”

Mr. Chik Wai Chiew, CEO & Managing Director of Heritas Capital, said, “We are pleased to make our first investment in India through Heritas’ Asia Impact First Fund (AIFF) in Kreedo, given its strong alignment with our goal of providing growth capital to social enterprises addressing critical social gaps. With the new funding, we look forward to supporting the founders alongside other like-minded impact investors to empower affordable private schools and train teachers to implement activity-based learning and better classroom management for improved learning outcomes.”

Regis and Savoy Pvt Ltd and Zanskar Advisors were the advisors for this round.