Aakash Chaudhry’s Two Months Old Venture ‘Sparkl Edventure’ Secures $4 Mn Funding from Deepinder Goyal, Nithin Kamath

-Kamath’s fintech and sustainability-focused fund, Rainmatter, is also involved in the investment, with Goyal’s backing solidifying the venture’s strong appeal in the market.

-In October, Aakash Chaudhry teamed up with Pavan Chauhan and Ritesh Hemrajani, the founders of Meritnation.com, to launch Sparkl Edventure. Meritnation, was acquired by Chaudhry’s AESL, in 2020.

-Sparkl Edventure is focused on providing personalized, one-on-one online tutoring for students in grades 6 to 12.

Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL) famed Aakash Chaudhry, a leading figure in India's education entrepreneurship scene, has made a strong comeback with his new venture, Sparkl Edventure. 

Just two months into this entrepreneurial comeback, Chaudhry has secured significant backing from two of India’s prominent consumer tech billionaires: Deepinder Goyal and Nithin Kamath, The Economic Times reported.

Both investors are participating in a $4 million seed funding round for Sparkl Edventure. Kamath’s fintech and sustainability-focused fund, Rainmatter, is also involved in the investment, with Goyal’s backing solidifying the venture’s strong appeal in the market. This funding round is anticipated to attract additional prominent investors in the near future.

In October, Aakash Chaudhry teamed up with Pavan Chauhan and Ritesh Hemrajani, the founders of Meritnation.com, to launch Sparkl Edventure. Meritnation, an edtech company, was acquired by Chaudhry’s family business, Aakash Educational Services Ltd (AESL), in 2020. This new venture comes three years after the $950 million sale of AESL to Byju's, one of India’s largest edtech deals at the time. Despite the sale, Chaudhry still retains an 11% stake in AESL.

Sparkl Edventure is focused on providing personalized, one-on-one online tutoring for students in grades 6 to 12. The platform specializes in the International Baccalaureate (IB) and Cambridge curricula and offers tailored classes across a variety of subjects, including mathematics, science, languages, and business studies.

Having already onboarded teachers, Sparkl has started enrolling students from key Indian cities like Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, and Hyderabad, as well as Singapore. The platform plans to expand by leveraging technology to enhance its offerings and grow its reach.

India’s Burgeoning K6-K12 Market

India's $900 million IB/Cambridge K6-K12 market fuels intense competition, with players striving to capture a significant share. This market stands at $2 billion globally, contributed by the booming SAT/ACT admission counseling sector, led by companies including Ascent Now and Crimson Education. 

Although AESL although known as an offline-first test prep giant with 215+ centers in India, Sparkl Edventure will operate as a fully digital platform, offering curated, personalized content. While AESL's focus remains on classroom-based preparation for engineering and medical exams, Sparkl targets students pursuing international curricula like IB and Cambridge or those aspiring to study abroad, positioning itself uniquely in the evolving education market.

Additionally, Sparkl also offers social and emotional support to students. “Stress and peer pressure are major challenges for today’s students. To address this, Sparkl will include monthly sessions with well-being coaches, focusing on mental health and holistic growth,” said a source to the publication. This unique offering will help further strengthen Sparkl’s positioning in the edtech segment.

It is noted that, AESL was founded in 1988 by Aakash Chaudhry’s father, JC Chaudhry, with a single center in Delhi’s Janakpuri area. Over the next three decades, the family built AESL into India’s leading test prep provider, serving over 250,000 students annually. In 2019, Blackstone acquired a 37.5% stake in AESL, valuing the company at $500 million.