BENGALURU, India--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cuemath, a leader in online math learning, today announced the closure of its Series C round of financing. The USD 40 million round was led by Lightstone Aspada and Alpha Wave Incubation and saw participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital India, CapitalG (formerly Google Capital) and Manta Ray.
Cuemath is founded by Manan Khurma, who has personally taught Math to over 10,000 students, “Globally, education is undergoing a massive transformation, driven by digital formats allowing students to leverage best practices from anywhere in the world. Today, just the online math tutoring space is a USD 30 billion global market. But brick-and-mortar stores are not able to adapt and scale fast enough as they rely on teaching techniques that are generations old,” Manan Khurma, Founder and CEO, Cuemath said.
“Cuemath’s proprietary methodology challenges the old-school practices. We treat math not just as a subject, but a life skill, with our sessions designed to impact students’ logical reasoning abilities. This fundraise gives us the opportunity to further build our technology while expanding our base to deliver the Cuemath advantage to millions of students worldwide,” Khurma added.
Since its inception, Cuemath has built a highly differentiated learning model on the back of its technology platform and gamified pedagogy. This has helped it drive retention rates as high as 75%+ across India and the US, while maintaining conversion rates as high as 60%+ across its organic channels.
Cuemath focuses on Math, as not just as another school subject, but as a life skill. Students are given personal attention by a Cuemath-trained Math expert based in India, with real-time intervention in a one to few (maximum of 6 students in a class) digital classroom. Each student is on a personalized learning path. This model allows delivering 1:1 quality learning outcomes with 1 to many economics.
Cuemath’s proprietary methodology delivers proven outcomes allowing students to double their speed of solving Math questions within 12 months. Superior learning outcomes have driven the average subscription tenure up by more than 50% across India and the US. Currently, close to 60,000 students from across 10 countries spend an average of five hours on the platform each month.
Cuemath also empowers educated and well-qualified women in India by providing them with an alternate and flexible career option to join as teachers with the Cuemath program. At present, more than 96% of the teachers engaged at Cuemath are women.
The new funding will be used to drive expansion of the Cuemath platform globally to deliver the Cuemath pedagogy to millions of math students worldwide. The company will build on its successful launch in the US to further scale up in the geography, along with other international markets. Leading investment bank IndigoEdge was the exclusive advisor to Cuemath for this transaction.
Quotes:
Lightstone Aspada
“The future of education (and work) lies in building and strengthening 21st century life-skills among learners. By unbundling math+ using a smart interface, trained & empathetic tutors and a unique pedagogy, Cuemath demonstrates tremendous potential to achieve its global ambition to scale the love for math+, an essential life-skill, among learners. We look forward to partnering with the inspiring leadership at Cuemath on this growth journey,” Divya Venkatavaraghavan, Principal, LGT Lightstone Aspada said.
Alpha Wave Incubation
Anirudh Singh, Managing Director, Alpha Wave Incubation said in a press statement, “Online math tutoring has proven to be a global market opportunity. We were very impressed by Cuemath’s ability to successfully deliver top-tier learning outcomes through its technology platform and gamification-driven pedagogy. Its success in India and the US, while maintaining high quality unit economics differentiates the company and proves Cuemath’s ability to tap into the massive global market opportunity.”
Sequoia Capital India
“Cuemath has always focused on building educational products that are laser-focused on improving learning outcomes. A curriculum, that has been developed and refined over several years combined with a digital live learning platform, has resulted in the program's rapid adoption among global audiences. This round is an important milestone in their journey and the Sequoia Capital India team is thrilled to continue their support of Manan and his team as they scale beyond India and into global markets,” Abheek Anand, Managing Director, Sequoia India commented.
CapitalG
Commenting on the funding, David Lawee, Founder and General Partner, CapitalG said, “Cuemath is leveraging leading-edge technology to bring much-needed improvements in the global tutoring market, applying their differentiated, proven and affordable pedagogies to millions of K-12 students across the globe. We are proud to continue supporting Manan Khurma and his team on their journey to bring high-quality math and coding instruction to millions of students worldwide.”
Manta Ray
“We are delighted to be able to continue supporting Cuemath in this next phase of their business growth. We strongly believe that with this round of funding, Cuemath is wellpositioned to be counted among the leaders in math learning globally – a vital part of any person’s education journey,” Lawrence Barclay from Manta Ray said.
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About Cuemath
Cuemath is India’s leading online math learning and coding program or KG-10th grade students across all school boards, spread over 10+ countries (UK, USA, UAE, Singapore, Canada, Thailand, Indonesia, Egypt, Nigeria, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and more).
The Cuemath Program has been designed to build a strong math and coding foundation in children by sharpening their knowledge of concepts, aptitude and reasoning skills. Students in the Cuemath program are taught by world class teachers from India’s premier institutions, in tailor-made sessions, created to focus on the individual needs of the students.
About Lightstone Aspada
Formed in partnership with Aspada and LGT in August 2019, LGT Lightstone Aspada is the Indiafocused impact investment platform of LGT Lightstone. Aspada, backed by the Soros Economic Development Fund, has been a pioneering investor in commercially scalable, high impact businesses across food supply chains, healthcare, education and financial services in India over the last decade. LGT Lightstone is LGT Group’s impact investing initiative to build a global multi-billion dollar direct investing platform focused on scalable businesses that provide access to improved livelihoods, information and services for underserved consumers around the world and/or promote sustainable resource utilization.
About Alpha Wave Incubation
Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI) is a USD 300 million venture fund managed by Falcon Edge Capital. AWI has a dedicated team across London, Bangalore and Abu Dhabi. The fund invests in early-stage tech-enabled, disruptive start-ups in India and Southeast Asia. In addition to providing outstanding founders with early-stage capital, AWI offers access to an unrivaled set of support mechanisms for business-building, while also helping companies expand globally and open up new markets in the GCC/MENA region and beyond.
About Falcon Edge Capital
Falcon Edge Capital is a diversified global alternative asset manager co-founded in 2012 by Rick Gerson, Navroz D. Udwadia and Ryan Khoury. Falcon Edge manages approximately USD 4 billion in assets across public and private markets. Falcon Edge has offices in New York, London and Bangalore. The firm offers a variety of investment products and strategies that cover a number of asset classes, themes and geographies.
About Sequoia Capital India
Sequoia helps daring founders build legendary companies, from idea to IPO and beyond. Sequoia India operates in Southeast Asia and India where they actively partner with founders from a wide range of companies, across categories, including BYJU’s, Carousell, Druva, Gojek, OYO Rooms, Tokopedia, Truecaller, Zilingo, Zomato and more. Sequoia spurs founders to push the boundaries of what’s possible. In partnering with Sequoia, startups benefit from 48 years of tribal knowledge and lessons learned, working with companies like Airbnb, Alibaba, Apple, Dropbox, Google, LinkedIn and Stripe early on. From the beginning, non-profits have been the backbone of their LP base, which means the founders’ accomplishments make a meaningful difference. The majority of profits are returned to great causes like the Ford Foundation, Mayo Clinic and MIT. For more information on Sequoia’s work in India and SE Asia, visit sequoiacap.com/india
About CapitalG
CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth fund, helps remarkable entrepreneurs accelerate the growth of their businesses. We partner with transformational companies as they navigate the challenges of scaling by connecting them to the latest technology and brightest minds at Alphabet. CapitalG is proud to have worked with many of the most consequential technology companies across the world, including Aye Finance, Cuemath, Cardekho, Practo, and Commonfloor in India. To learn more, visit www.CapitalG.com.
About Manta Ray
Manta Ray is an early-stage venture capital fund backing mission-driven founders addressing significant global challenges through applying leading-edge technologies. The fund provides flexible and patient capital, leveraging time, resources and networks as far as possible to support its portfolio companies.
