Byju’s, which barely 24 hours ago become the third Indian startup to enter the decacorn club, is reportedly pursuing negotiation to acquire edtech startup Doubtnut. Doubtnut seeks to solve doubts in tough subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Maths and Biology through interactive videos that can be accessed through its official website and Android app.
Within a very short span of time, Doubtnut has emerged as one of the hottest properties in India’s nascent edtech sector. As a result, today it has reportedly become an acquisition target of one of the poster boys of the edtech industry.
Irrespective of whether this acquisition goes through or not, we’ve compiled important information about Doubtnut and brought forth for our loyal readers. Some of these information makes for an interesting reading.
- Incorporated in 2016, Doubtnut is founded by husband-wife duo Aditya Shankar and Tanushree Nagori. Both of them are IIT graduates.
- Before founding Doubtnut, the husband-wife duo founded a brick and mortar class in Gurugram, known as Class21A to teach math and science for the age group of 9-12. The name 21A was driven from article 21 (A) of the Indian constitution that guarantees to provide free and compulsory education to children.
- The inspiration to join the mission to improve India’s education system came in 2009, when a serious accident rendered Aditya bedridden for almost 6 months. Aditya said that during those 6 months an idea germinated in his mind to do something groundbreaking to improve India’s education scenario. This idea eventually propelled Aditya and Tanushree to form class 21 (A) and also found Doubtnut seven years later.
- Since its inception in 2016, Doubtnut has collected $18.9 Mn through four funding rounds (according to Crunchbase). Its last funding round (series A) led by Chinese internet giant Tencent paved for the capital infusion of $15 Mn.
- Apart from Tencent, Doubtnut also counts Sequoia Capital and Omidyar Network among its high profile investors.
- According to reports, all Doubtnut platforms including the web, app and other avenues like YouTube and Whatsapp boast 13 million monthly active users. The platform also claims to have solved over 250 Mn doubts till date.
- The startup leverages cutting edge technologies like machine learning and image recognition technology to effectively solve student queries through video interactions.
- Despite boasting impressive market tractions, Doubtnut reportedly hasn’t managed to monetize its platform.