Indian edtech startup Supernova raises $1.1 million in pre-seed funding even as Indian startup funding hits a 2-year low

• Kae Capital, All-in Capital, Goodwater Capital etc participated in the round.
  
• Targeted towards kids aged 4-12, Supernova’s live quizzes aim to cover subjects through interactive 30-minute sessions.
  
• The online education market in India – which includes K12, higher education and lifelong learning or upskilling – is presently worth around $1.9 billion.
  

Supernova, an Indian edtech startup, on Thursday said it had raised $1.1 million in a pre-seed funding round that was led by Lumikai, an Indian gaming and interactive media venture capitalist.

Other investors who participated in the round include Kae Capital, All In Capital, Goodwater Capital and prominent angel investors – Nandan Reddy and Phani Kishan - founders of Swiggy; Nitin Gupta - founder of PayU and Uni; Prashan Aggarwal - ex-CEO of Gaana; and Tanay Tayal - founder of Moonfrog labs.

The funding comes at a time when Indian startups funding has hit a two-year low at $2.7 billion in Q3, according to PwC report Startup Deals Tracker-Q3 CY22.

However, PwC states “funding in the Indian edtech segment has shown a positive trend in Q3 CY22 compared to the previous quarter (in value terms).”

Supernova was started by Anirudh, Nawin and Maharishi in 2021. Targeted towards kids aged 4-12, the edtech firm aims to redefine the current passive forms of learning by making learning more engaging and fun.

Supernova makes live quizzes in interactive gaming formats on various subjects of CBSE for students from class 1 to class 8. Live quizzes, “Byte-Sized” lessons and worksheets on CBSE topics can be accessed on Supernova.

“Today's kids are born into a world of smartphones and highly engaging digital experiences, so they look for the same levels of engagement from their learning experiences. As a result, education is undergoing a generational shift towards user-centricity,” Maharishi RB, co-founder, Supernova said.

Their live quizzes aim to cover subjects through interactive 30-minute sessions.

The online education market, which includes K12, higher education and lifelong learning or upskilling in India is presently worth around $1.9 billion.

“We believe that systems of play and gaming best practices have the potential to unlock massive disruption in edtech. Supernova is taking a first-principles approach to a massive opportunity with a new platform that re-imagines kids' education by leveraging the power of experiential, game-based “learning by doing”,” Justin Shriram Keeling, founding general partner, Lumikai Fund said.

With the amount raised, Supernova will further develop and scale the product to incorporate multiplayer formats, strengthen its leadership team and deploy strategies that will amplify product lead user acquisition over the next 18 months.

”Traditional edtech models characterised by high customer acquisition costs, prohibitively expensive courses, and poor learning outcomes are unsustainable,” Sunitha Viswanathan, Partner, Kae Capital said.

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