Toddle, an Edtech SaaS (Software as a Service) startup, is in discussions with its existing and new found investors to raise a fresh funding round of approximately USD 15-18 million. Peak XV led a USD 17 million Series A round in Toddle in January 2023, and also witnessed participation from Tenacity Ventures, Trifecta Capital, Matrix Partners (now Z47), Beenext, and Better Capital. “GSV Ventures is likely to co-lead the new funding, with strong participation from existing investors. A micro VC from the US is likely to participate as well,” highlighted a source requesting anonymity.
GSV Ventures had previously backed edtech startups such as PhysicsWallah, Coursera, AdmitKard, Brightchamps, and Classplus. Notably, Peak XV and Matrix (via Testbook) are also investors in Classplus, which directly competes with Toddle. Teachmint and Unacademy’s Graphy are other notable players in the edtech SaaS space.
The startup was founded back in 2019 by Deepanshu Arora, Gautam Arora, Misbah Jafary, Nikhil Poonawala, and Parita Parekh, wherein, it’s first product came as a teaching and learning platform utilized by independent schools offering IB (International Baccalaureate) and other progressive curricula. As per Toddle’s website, the platform is used by more than 2,000 schools currently which include both free and paid customers across more than 100 countries including US, UK, Australia, China, and the UAE.
Additionally, credible sources have indicated that the Toddle will be valued at around USD 100 million post funding. TiIl date, it has raised $20 million across three funding rounds. However, Toddle and Peak XV have declined to comment on this ongoing story while queries sent to GSV and Z47 did not elicit any response.
If we speak of the revenue, Toddle’s revenue from operations jumped from Rs 19.45 crore to Rs 40.7 crore 72% to Rs 32.35 crore, for the fiscal year ending March 2023. Having said that, its losses have also surged while the company is yet to file FY24 results.
Currently, edtech startups are making a slow but notable comeback with a few large deals, following a sharp decline in funding. Recently, PhysicsWallah has raised USD 210 million, which is further followed by Eruditus and upGrad, which has raised USD 150 million and USD 60 million, respectively.
This list also includes K12 Techno’s USD 27 million secondary, upGrad’s USD 35 million debt, Educational Initiatives (Ei)’s USD 20 million equity, Planetspark’s USD 17 million and Bhanzu’s USD 16.5 million Series B funding.
As per the startup data intelligence platform, edtech firms have already raised a total of USD 613 million across 37 deals so far in 2024. With this, it has surpassed the USD 456 million raised in 2023. However, it has fallen well short of the USD 2.3 billion in 2022 and USD 5.8 billion in 2021.
