Zerodha and Zomato founders bet on Sparkl Edventure "I've been wondering for a long time if students will have different outcomes if they have access to education that is more personalised and customised," said Kamath
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Aakash Chaudhry, founder of Aakash Institute, has secured USD 4 million in seed funding for his latest edtech venture, Sparkl Edventure, with participation from Zomato's Deepinder Goyal and Zerodha's Nithin Kamath. The funding round, led by Kamath's Rainmatter fund, is expected to see more investors joining, according to media reports.
Sparkl, which launched in October, focuses on one-on-one online tutoring for students in grades 6 to 12, targeting International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge curricula.
"Our vision at Sparkl is to empower students with personalised, one-on-one learning that adapts to their individual needs. With the support of visionary leaders like Nithin Kamath and Deepinder Goyal, we are poised to revolutionise the tutoring landscape," Chaudhry said in a statement.
Chaudhry co-founded Sparkl alongside Meritnation.com's Pavan Chauhan and Ritesh Hemrajani, leveraging experience from Meritnation – an edtech platform acquired by Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) in 2020.
"I've been wondering for a long time if students will have different outcomes if they have access to education that is more personalised and customised. When I heard what Aakash and his team were planning, I was convinced that something like this should be available for students. We are happy to join them in this journey," Kamath explained.
The new venture comes after AESL's USD 950 million acquisition by Byju's in 2021, one of India's largest edtech deals, in which Chaudhry retains an 11 per cent stake.
"The platform was initially slated for a 2025 launch, but with the product ready ahead of schedule, the timeline was fast-tracked," Chaudhry said.
Sparkl is already operational, enrolling students from Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, and Singapore. Unlike AESL's offline test-prep model, Sparkl operates fully online and focuses on international curricula, with an added emphasis on mental health support through monthly well-being sessions.
The funding is expected to accelerate expansion efforts and further develop the platform's technology.
