Actor Suniel Shetty has invested an undisclosed amount for a stake in edtech firm Klassroom Edutech, which is betting on the hybrid model of offline and online classroom teaching for revenue growth. The actor, producer and serial investor is keen on health startups as well which could include those into bio-hacking. “The hybrid education model is the need for the hour and is aligned with the National Education Policy. Sometimes startups have good funding, strong ideas but lack marketing and reach. I can bring in the latter,” Shetty told Mint. The actor said Klassroom Edutech showed “remarkable growth (prospects) as much as 10x”
Started in 2016, the edtech firm is in the midst of its pre-series A funding for which it aims to raise $1 million and going ahead will target $5 million for the series A round. Keen on mentoring, improving on pitches and connecting startups with different investors, Shetty told Mint that he typically looks at 10-16% stake in startups and if they are at an early stage then the stake could be higher.
The hybrid teaching company caters to 60,000 students across 500 cities via a network of 150 offline centres. The company said it has achieved 10X revenue growth in the last two years. Since inception, it has attracted investments from the likes of ah! Ventures Angel Fund, Hem Angels, Pavan Bakeri (Managing Director, Bakeri Group), Kishore Ganji (Founder, Astir Ventures) among others, of $one million in funding.
“The early investors, Suniel Shetty and few others are part of the pre-series A round of funding. The new capital will be used for improvement in technology, content and physical class room expansion,” said Dhruv Javeri, co-founder of Klassroom Edutech.
Shetty said he had an exit strategy in place and if the investments bring in 2x-3x returns , he “is happy” with that and not all have to become unicorns. His investments come at a time when the edtech sector has seen a steep drop in business after two years of pandemic when online education grew manifold.
The edtech sector recorded a 39% decline in funding last year to $423 million from $785 million in 2021, as per a report by the Impact Investors Council (IIC).
The report, titled 2022 In Retrospect: Indian Impact Investment Trends, showed that the number of transactions also plummeted last year. The number of deals went down to 26 in 2022 from 38 in 2021 and 61 in 2020.
“If the startup is cash positive and even if it is small , I will jump in. I will look at more startups going ahead but not necessarily in the education sector,” said the actor.
Shetty has earlier invested in Bengaluru-based new-age wellness firm Vieroots Wellness Solutions Pvt. Ltd; NFT marketplace Colexion; fitness app Fittr; men’s grooming brand Beardo besides various ventures in hospitality.
The actor is sifting through various investment proposals and a health startup could be next in line. “Maybe something in bio-hacking which is the new mantra,” he said adding that preventive wellness could what he delves into next.
Over the last few years, several actors have invested in startups including Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma , Ranveer Singh amongst others.
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Updated: 04 Jun 2023, 10:52 PM IST
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