Smartivity Labs Raises Second Pre-series A Funding of $2M from Ashish Kacholia

Smartivity Labs, New Delhi based STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, (Arts), and Math) toys design startup has raised $2 million from Ashish Kacholia, one of India's most influential stock market investors and Director-Research at Mumbai-based Lucky Securities. 

This round was also participated in by existing Smartivity investors - S Chand Group, AdvantEdge Founders and Ant Space.

Talking about his decision to invest in Smartivity Labs, Ashish Kacholia said, “I got interested in Smartivity because my daughter Anisha loved their STEM toys, and the toys gave me quality bonding time with her every weekend. I can see the improvement in her understanding of scientific concepts and analytical skills; and reduction in screen time. Same will apply to many young parents and their kids, at a VFM price. I believe that Smartivity is going to revolutionise the Indian toy industry and bring up a whole generation of tech smart kids.”

Smartivity Labs was founded in February 2015 by Tushar A Amin, and IIT-Delhi alumni Apoorv Gupta, Rajat Jain and Ashwini Kumar. Smartivity Labs is dedicated to designing, developing and selling STEM educational toys, Blended Learning (technology enabled physical toys) and Tangible Play activities for 3-14 year old children.

In 2016, the startup had raised $1 million (Rs 6.6 Cr) in Pre-Series A round funding led by S Chand Group and early-stage investment firm AdvantEdge Partners, along with participation from Singapore-based fund CFG Offshore Holdings, Silicon Valley-based fund Tandem Capital, and a clutch of angel investors.

Tushar A Amin, co-founder, Smartivity Labs, said, “Smartivity has grown over 10X in the past two years. We expect to cross INR 100 Crores revenue in the next three years. The current round of fund infusion will be primarily used towards strengthening product development; bolstering manufacturing capabilities; and launching innovative brand awareness initiatives in India, as well as American, European and other international markets.”

Smartivity has a robust global order book and its exports are expected to grow 3 to 4 times this year. Smartivity will also be expanding its presence to geographies like Russia, China, Japan and South America over the next few months.

“We are on track to meet the ‘INR 100 crore by 2021’ target. We are focussed on the needs of our evolving audience and the industry. People, processes and product innovation are Smartivity's core strengths. We will be strengthening our design capabilities to ensure that that every young mind that engages with Smartivity product has a fun, flawless and world-class experience, We want to win every parent’s trust and every child’s love. Our vision is to be the best STEM toys brand in the world,” added Tushar.

STEM toys is one of the fastest growing categories in global toy industry and includes toys designed to introduce children to fundamental concepts from the STEM fields. Smartivity has emerged as a global consumer brand in the toy industry with a strong presence in highly discerning markets of USA, Canada, Europe and Australia, among other countries.

The other players offering similar edtech learning products are such as Avishkaar Box, Flintobox, and Magic Crate among others.