Logic Roots and Project Mudra Selected as Top Ventures in Village Capital's Education: India 2017 Education Technology Program, Supported by Omidyar Network

BANGALORE, December 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The two start-ups to receive investment offers of $50,000 each from Village Capital

Education startups Logic Roots and Project Mudra, were peer-selected as the top ventures of Village Capital Education: India 2017. They were part of a cohort of 13 Indian education startups, which were selected from among 120 applicants focused on solving problems in K-12 education. The three-month program was run by Village Capital, a leading global venture capital firm, and funded by Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm that helps scale innovative organizations to catalyse economic and social change.

"The entrepreneurs participating in this program share a common vision - improving learning outcomes for students in India. Education is one of our investment themes globally and we're excited about Omidyar Network's support to help these ventures achieve business growth and scale. Our investment model is peer selection. We invested in these two ventures because their strongest supporters and sharpest critics - the other entrepreneurs in the cohort - believed in their potential to scale," said Deepak Menon, Village Capital's Regional Manager in Asia.

"Improving education quality is an important area of focus for Omidyar Network," said Roopa Kudva, Partner and Managing Director of India at Omidyar Network. "We are supporting the entrepreneurial ecosystem through our partnership with Village Capital and others to accelerate the performance of high potential education start-ups that are developing innovative and scalable solutions."

Kunal Gandhi, CEO of Logic Roots, a startup that designs social math games for K-5 students, said, "The Village Capital program has been a ton of help in sharpening our vision and execution. Learning from other education startups and mentors has been an enriching experience."

Aman Srivastava, Co-founder of Project Mudra, a hardware startup that enables visually impaired students to learn better, said, "Village Capital Education India 2017 has been a phenomenal experience. We learnt a lot from the mentors, cohort, and Village Capital team."

As the peer-selected winners of Education: India 2017, Logic Roots and Project Mudra will receive investment offers of $50,000 each from Village Capital. They were selected as the ventures with the highest potential to scale in accordance with Village Capital's 'peer selection' model. Entrepreneurs in each Village Capital program evaluate each other across eight indicators of investment readiness to select two among them for investment at the end of the program. Omidyar Network will also explore whether the participating companies would be a good fit for its education portfolio.

India has the largest K-12 student population in the world, with over 260 million children enrolled in schools across the country. While access has improved over time, educational outcomes remain poor for a majority of these students, ultimately affecting their earning capabilities and long-term well-being. Village Capital, with support from Omidyar Network, sourced a wide array of companies, ranging from innovative school and after-school models to companies offering technology that enables personalized learning for students.

The thirteen startups went through a rigorous curriculum and met with stakeholders, investors, and customers to help them build deeper networks in the education and investment communities and receive feedback to improve their investment readiness.

The full list of thirteen startups in the cohort can be found here:

• 23.4 Degrees creates curriculum, assessments, and self-learning products for CBSE and ICSE schools.
• Callido Learning develops critical thinking and problem-solving skills in children through its evidence-based curriculum and innovative digital learning tools.
• Doubtnut is an on-demand math doubt-clearing app.
• Fundamentor is an online cognitive aptitude & life skill development program using gamification, technology, and analytics.
• Logic Roots designs social math games for K-5 students.
• Mindchamp develops logical thinking in children through coding education.
• MyPeegu is a platform that connects parents, teachers, and psychologists to monitor and improve the aptitude, attitude, and general well-being of children.
• Project Mudra builds connected hardware that enables visually impaired students to read, write, and type Braille with minimal teacher intervention.
• Stones2Milestones develops the will and skill to read in English for young children through scientifically designed and intuitive reading programs.
• Suraasa is redesigning teacher training through a mobile app and skilling program.
• The Climber helps students make more informed career choices by connecting them with young achievers from across the globe.
• Whiz Juniors is a gamified online tech learning platform that enables students to learn, practice, and get certified in multiple skills.
• XPrep provides a mobile-first platform for tutors to engage students & parents, manage post-classroom activities, and order educational content.

About Village Capital: 

Village Capital is a global venture capital firm that finds, trains and invests in entrepreneurs solving real-world problems. Since 2009 we have invested in over 70 ventures across 15 countries, with 12 profitable exits, and supported hundreds more through our collaborative investment-readiness programs. Village Capital graduates have leveraged initial capital 25:1, created over 11,000 jobs, and served over 6 million customers. For more information, visit http://www.vilcap.com and follow @villagecapital on Twitter.

Press Contact
Deepak Menon
Regional Manager, South Asia
Village Capital
[email protected]
+91-99451 11619