Ahmedabad-based EdTech startup, Saarthi Pedagogy, which provides a Technology Platform to integrate all segments of K-12 education for enabling stellar learning outcomes, has raised Rs 7 crore in its first funding round. The funding was led by Ecosystem Ventures which invests in disruptive startups and helps them scale. LetsVenture, JITO Angel Network, and other HNIs also co-invested in this round.

Founded in 2020 by Sushil Agrawal, Saarthi Pedagogy is trying to solve the problem of lack of focus on learning outcomes and a lack of consistency in content delivery and teacher quality. The company has built an innovative technology-driven platform that bridges school's pedagogy, technology, content, and training on a single platform to achieve higher learning outcome, parents' satisfaction, and admission, and lowers their operational cost.

In just one year, the company has marked its presence in 200 plus schools across 36 cities in 7 states. They have been able to reduce the non-productive time of teachers by 60 percent and increase school revenues through their product. With this fundraise they will be able to create an impact in 2000 plus schools in the next couple of years through rapid expansion, strengthening the product and tech, and expanding internationally.

The funding round generated twice the commitment required. Sushil Agrawal, founder, and CEO of Saarthi Pedagogy, who himself has experience of operating 2 schools, commented, “I spent 10 years building and running schools from scratch, and Saarthi is a product of years of research and experimentation on solving pain-points of teachers, students, parents, and school management. With funding and strategic support from edtech experts like Ecosystem Ventures, we expect to increase the impact of our work many-fold.”

Ecosystem Ventures invests in disruptive startups along with 200 plus angel investors, most of whom are IIT/IIM grads with deep corporate and venture experience. Ecosystem Ventures also helps accelerate venture growth by providing mentorship and support across technology, sales and marketing, team expansion, etc. Ecosystem's leadership team has helped build, scale and create exits for successful companies like WhiteHat Jr., Pariksha, GeoIQ, Anaxee, Navigene, StackBOX among many others.

Ecosystem Ventures' Founder Abhijeet Bhandari, who has been advising Saarthi on its organisational growth strategies, said that he was impressed with how they had created a niche for themselves in mid-market schools where there were no holistic solutions that were able to solve their pain points.

Sunitha Ramaswamy, President, LetsVenture, said, “With the advent of new interactive technologies thanks to the widespread availability of wifi and internet access has indeed shaped up the way students perceive their studies now. As the pandemic continues, virtual teaching and learning will become a norm, which will further lead to more innovative ways of teaching and communicating with students. With Saarthi Pedagogy having a deep understanding of the edtech space, will surely help to bridge the gap of new ways to teach.”

(Edited by : Priyanka Deshpande)