Jan 4, 2024

Social Edutainment platform Maidaan raises Undisclosed Amount in Pre-Seed Round led by Inflection Point Ventures and EvolveX By Maidaan is a peer-to-peer edutainment platform hosting live, bite-sized Olympiads and tournaments for schoolchildren. The funds will be utilized primarily for driving product development and innovating on content, games, and tournament formats. Maidaan’s pilot version successfully engaged with students from over 100 schools spanning across 25+ cities in India. Inflection Point Ventures (IPV) has so far invested over INR 650 crore across 200+ deals. January 4, 2024, Bangalore: Maidaan, a social edutainment platform, raised an undisclosed amount in a pre-seed round led by Inflection Point Ventures and EvolveX. We at Founder Circle also participated in the round. The funds will be utilized primarily for product development, innovating on content, games, and tournament formats. Maidaan stands as an innovative peer-to-peer edutainment platform, redefining the educational landscape for schoolchildren in India. Through its live, bite-sized Olympiads and tournaments, Maidaan aims to let everyone explore education and a peer group beyond regular school. With a vision to make interaction with peers beyond school affordable and accessible, it aspires to empower over 100 million Indian students from an early age. Maidaan’s mission not only broadens horizons but also fosters an environment where learning and growth transcend classroom boundaries, shaping a brighter future for K–12 education in India. Both founders, raised in Indian Army households, underwent schooling in over 10 cities across India, instilling in them an early appreciation for diverse exposure. Co-founder Judhajit Bal, a management graduate from MDI, Gurgaon, previously successful with myHQ and with experience from Coca-Cola, shapes Maidaan’s vision. Co-Founder Shashank Awasthi, an ISB graduate, brings over a decade of tech expertise from HSBC, Jivox, and Publicis Sapient, driving Maidaan’s product and platform growth. Rahul Wagh, Managing Director, Inflection Point Ventures, says, “Today, when everything is digital, our education still relies on outdated methods and uninspiring textbooks. Maidaan addresses this by integrating learning into interactive games and quizzes, challenging the conventional notion that education is limited to the classroom. By breaking down the boundaries between learning and gaming, with Maidaan, children can seamlessly blend education with play. It shows a bright and promising future, not just for kids but for investors as well.” Commenting on Maidaan’s potential, Bhawna Bhatnagar, Co-Founder of EvolveX, expressed, “For most of the students, the first taste of competition beyond school walls occurs at a national level. Being unprepared for this reality results in an unpleasant shock, fostering self-doubt and a lifelong fear of competition, which hinders progress in a competitive life thereafter. Parents are well aware of this challenge but lack easily accessible means to alleviate it. Maidaan seeks to transform this narrative by providing every aspiring individual with a stage to discover themselves. At EvolveX, we are committed to supporting Maidaan in this mission through continuous assistance, mentorship, and guidance.” Maidaan’s strengths lie in its gaming-centric approach to skill-building, its unwavering commitment to student engagement, and its focus on fostering peer-to-peer interactions through skill-enhancing gaming experiences. The pilot version of Maidaan has successfully engaged students from over 100 schools spanning across 25+ cities in India. The platform has initiated strategic annual and quarterly collaboration plans with schools, with Pune as its initial focal city for expansion. Judhajit Bal, Co-Founder & CEO, Maidaan, says, “Beyond the top 5% elite in India, millions of students don’t get a chance to experience a world beyond the walls of their schools before Class 12, reducing the potential of social mobility. The only way to solve this is to make exposure beyond school truly accessible and affordable in a language and format that students understand and speak themselves. We’re thrilled to have IPV and EvolveX onboard and backing us to solve this.” In just 9 months, Maidaan achieved remarkable milestones, growing its user base tenfold to over 2000 users. The platform has secured pivotal strategic collaborations with schools on annual and quarterly levels, all while maintaining exceptional engagement and robust user retention rates on the platform. In Middle-India households, the age group of 5–15 is projected to exceed 100 million children by 2030, indicating a substantial market. Additionally, the supplemental learning segment, encompassing education beyond schooling, is forecasted to reach a significant USD 5 billion market value in India alone by 2030.