Lumikai Fund leads Supernova’s $1.1 million pre-seed funding round

Updated on: 13 October 2022 7:33 pm

Early-stage deals contributed around 21 per cent of the total funding by value in Q3 CY22 compared to 12 per cent in Q2 CY22, showing that there is significant dry powder in the Indian start-up ecosystem

Indian start-up funding hits two-year low in Q3 CY22 at $2.7 billion: PwC India Photo: Early-stage deals contributed around 21 per cent of the total funding by value in Q3 CY22 compared to 12 per cent in Q2 CY22, showing that there is significant dry powder in the Indian start-up ecosystem

Bengaluru-based Supernova, an edtech start-up announced its pre-seed funding of $1.1 million, which was led by Lumikai, an active gaming and interactive media venture capital company. Kae Capital, All In Capital and Goodwater Capital also participated in this round.
It also saw the participation of angel investors like Swiggy’s co-founder Nandan Reddy, Supr Daily’s chief executive officer (CEO) Phani Kishan, PayU and Uni’s co-founder Nitin Gupta, former Gaana CEO Prashan Aggarwal and Moonfrog Labs co-founder Tanay Tayal.

Supernova makes live quizzes and interactive gamified formats on CBSE math topics, targeting kids aged four to 12 years. It was founded in 2021 by former Myra Medicine’s co-founder Anirudh Coontoor and Nawin Krishna and Maharishi RB to redefine the current passive learning format with engaging ‘byte-sized’ lessons and worksheets. Children can learn and practice a CBSE math problem using Supernova’s Live Quizzes, in innovative 30-minute sessions.

Maharishi RB stated that today's kids are born into a world of highly engaging digital experiences and seek similar levels of engagement from their learning experiences. As a result, education is undergoing a generational shift towards user-centricity.

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“We aim to be at the forefront of this change by providing affordable, effective and fun learning for most kids,” he added. “The only way to achieve this is through fundamental innovation leveraging the power of interactivity and systems of play. We are rethinking everything from pedagogies to price points to distribution channels. This funding round will help us go a long way with this much-needed disruption.”

Justin Shriram Keeling, the founding general partner of Lumikai Fund, shared, “We believe that systems of play and gaming best practices have the potential to unlock massive disruption in edtech. We are excited to be partnering with Supernova at an early stage, and look forward to supporting them with our deep gaming expertise and network on their critical mission to bring in-demand pedagogies to a much wider audience in delightful and fun ways”.

Sunitha Viswanathan, partner of Kae Capital, added, “It has become increasingly evident that the current traditional ed-tech models characterised by high customer acquisition costs, prohibitively expensive courses, and poor learning outcomes are unsustainable. From affordable pricing to product-led growth, we like how the Supernova team goes after entirely new models.”

With the amount raised, Supernova will further develop and scale the product to incorporate multiplayer formats, strengthen its leadership team and deploy strategies to amplify product lead user acquisition over the next 18 months.