English learning startup OckyPocky raises funds from Goodwater Capital & Quant Fund

This is an extension to the funding the startup had announced in September 2021 from Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar and Hyderabad-headquartered SucSEED Innovation Fund.

The startup will use the funds to grow its platform distribution and add more vernacular languages to its platform. Currently, OckyPocky helps students learn English through Hindi and Marathi. It looks to add Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Malayalam, and Kannada to its platform.

“The present funding opens us up to the funds in Silicon Valley and gives us a newer perspective through a new channel of investors. English is the biggest gatekeeper for admissions and jobs for the middle class. Since its inception, OckyPocky has been on a mission to children and help them master English with the right learning tools,” Amit Agrawal, founder OckyPocky, told ET.

Founded in 2017 by Agrawal, the former Youtube India head, OckyPocky leverages natural language processing (NLP) to help kids between the ages of 2 and 8 years learn and speak English. It targets parents of small-town kids, who face challenges with spoken English.

The platform also provides live classes to students and claims to clock roughly half a million monthly active users on its platform.

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While adding to its languages and NLP capabilities, OckyPocky is targeting to touch 1 million monthly active users by FY23. It is also piloting different revenue streams, including offering a premium version of its learning app.

OckyPocky is also in talks to raise more funds by the end of this year depending on its growth targets.

“We’re thrilled to be investors in OckyPocky. We know from our data that their vital mission is attracting one of the most talented technical teams among Indian startups,” said Abraham Othman, senior researcher at AngelList Early-Stage Quant Fund.

Other edtech startups in the space include Villgro-backed Blackboard Radio which helps students in grades 1 to 10 learn English.