Chennai-based Flinto Learning Solutions Private Limited, an educational start-up focusing on activity-based learning for kids with brand name 'Flintobox', has raised Rs.6 crore (US$875,000) from InnoVen Capital, a venture debt and specialty lending firm backed by Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

The freshly raised capital will be used by the startup towards expanding its domestic presence, as well as expanding into international markets such as Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

The startup last raised US$7 Mn from Lightbox Ventures, in December 2017. So far, flintobox has raised $8.2 Mn in total from five different rounds from various investors such as Lightbox, Globevestor, and venture capitalist Ashwin Chadha.

Whereas, InnoVen Capital aims to strengthen its focus on the flourishing market of education sector, particularly the emerging early education segment with this investment.

Tarana Lalwani, Director at InnoVen Capital India, said, “This space (early learning) has great potential as more parents look for activities that help children learn in a fun way. Our investment will support Flintobox’s expansion plans, as it looks to scale up.”

Founded in 2013 by Arunprasad Durairaj, Vijay Babu Gandhi and Shreenidhi Srirangam, Flintobox provides educational activity boxes for children between the age group of 2-8 years. It is conceived as part of a series of discovery boxes that caters to the holistic development of a child. With subscription-based boxes, the company aims at getting kids off screen addiction and engaging them with meaningful activities.

With more than 1,20,000 subscribers, Flintobox is currently present in over 700 cities and caters to children in the age group of 2-12 years. The startup is known for its flagship product – Flintobox, an age-appropriate activity box designed to engage children.

Last month, in a similar business model startup funding, Bangalore-based Magic Crate, an early childhood learning brand, has raised an undisclosed amount in its third round of institutional funding led by Fireside Ventures.

This was followed by US$ 180,000 fundin of Kidovators by impact investor Gray Matters Capital. Based out of Bengaluru, Kidovators claims to be India’s first 21st century skill learning platform.

InnoVen Capital, which is Asia’s leading venture debt firm, reported a 2x growth in last financial year by funding $85 million to 45 companies of which 31 were new additions to the rapidly expanding and diversified portfolio. This includes the largest venture debt deal done in India till date i.e. Rs.55 crores to Oyo, the large Indian brand which owns and aggregates standardized hotel rooms. In the last quarter, $37 million was disbursed to 17 companies. As on March 2017 end, InnoVen Capital has till date funded $225 million to over 100 companies in India across 150+ transactions.

Last September, Ace Turtle, an omni-channel platform company in India raised venture debt from InnoVen Capital.

Source - Hans India

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