3rdFlix Visual Effects Pvt Ltd, which operates edtech startup Practically, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $4 Mn in a pre-series B funding round. Siana Capital spearheaded the round while existing investors YourNest Venture Capital and Exfinity Ventures had also participated in the round.
The company said in the press release that it will use the funds to consolidate its market position in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Simultaneously, Practically will also make effort to increase pan-India presence.
Following the latest funding round, Practically has now raised $9 MN till date. The startup had raised $5 Mn in 2019 as part of the series A round.
It must be that the Hyderabad based startup had also raised a bridge Series A1 round last year. As per the regulatory filings, the company had moved a resolution in April last year to issue 2,803 Pre- Series A1 CCPS at an issue price of INR 24,980 per share. The company intended to raise nearly Rs 7 Cr through this bridge round.
Practically is essentially an interactive and immersive learning app that brings learning alive through immersive videos, interactive augmented reality and 3D simulations. The startup claims that its unique features like life-like video content, hands-on learning & experiential learning helps in enhancing student’s conceptual understanding and improving retention of concepts.
Speaking on the successful funding round, Mr. Subbarao Siddabattula, Founder & CEO, Practically said, “This pre-Series B funding showcases the extreme faith our investors have reposed on Practically. The tremendous response that we are seeing for Practically from schools, administration, faculty, parents and students validates our model.”
“Our progress so far is in-line with our strategic growth plans and we are very well placed to tap the accelerated growth that the EdTech industry is witnessing today.”
The company was founded in 2018 by Mr. Subbarao Siddabattula, Ms. Charu Noheria and Ilangovel Thulasimani.
Practically competes with well-funded and big players like Byju’s, Vedantu and Topprs. All these competitors have raised big ticket funding rounds in 2020. While COVID-19 ravaged the entire global economy, edtech sector managed to remain immune to the pandemic’s devastating impact.
In fact, with pandemic forcing millions of students to go online, investors poured a huge amount of capital in the edtech sector.
As per regulatory filings, Practically earned a revenue of nearly INR 1.77 Cr while its total expenses stood at nearly Rs 3.57 Cr for the financial year Fy19. Overall, the company earned a loss of Rs 3.57 Cr in Fy19.
Practically Co-founder & Coo Mrs. Charu Noheria shares her expectations from Budget
Practically Co-founder & COO Mrs. Charu Noheria shares her expectations from the upcoming budget on the behalf of the entire startup and edtech industry…
“Though the EdTech industry was witnessing consistent growth over the last few years, the pandemic has propelled the growth many times over. Given that there has been significant surge in eLearning, Government must support us by allocating sufficient funds and devise strategies to make digital education accessible by ensuring availability of internet connectivity, laptops, tablets, smartphones etc. either thought direct government programs or through Public Private Partnership (PPP) model,” said Noheria.
Noheria further added “With National Education Policy (NEP 2020) already setting the pace for enormous skill development, we would expect the Government to increase the education expenditure in the current Union budget for implementation. This will provide the impetus required for upgradation of school infrastructure with state-of-art technology and will help to meet the demands of jobs in the future. To perceive India as one of the most preferred higher education destinations in the world, the Government should also focus on reskilling of education fraternity to equip them use new age eLearning solutions as well as providing tax benefits to schools and teachers who invest in such solutions.”