Hobit, an interactive learning platform for hobbies & a Marwari Catalysts' Portfolio Startup, lands USD 200K in seed round funding

New Delhi [India], February 7 (ANI/SRV): A learning platform for non-academic skills, Hobit announces that it has raised $200K in seed round funding. Founded during the first lockdown in 2020, by Gaurav Dua, Arpit Tyagi, and Lakshay Rohilla, Hobit is addressing the market for extracurricular activities/hobbies where people learn from the industry's top-notch artists.
Based in Faridabad, it is an experiential virtual learning platform that connects passionate mentors and learners through live mentorship, engaging learning experiences, and community building.
The funding round saw participation from strategic investors including Vaibhav Mittal (CEO, AKC Group; Investor; Entrepreneur), Varun Hangloo, Rachit Poddar (Angel Investor; London Business School), Rajesh Gupta, Sharad Todi, IVY Growth associates, and Marwari Catalysts Ventures (VC-cum-Accelerator).
IVY Growth Associates played a huge role in raising the round and added a few other strategic investors from Nagpur, Kolkata, and Mumbai who will add value to the market penetration, growth, and sustainability of the company.
With Accelerator Partner, Marwari Catalysts Ventures, India's fastest growing startup accelerator, the non-academic EdTech startup will use the funds to strategically allocate for strengthening the technology & product, developing new courses, user base expansion, strengthening the team, and accelerating its growth in order to expand its footprint in India and international markets.
On his investment into Hobit, Varun Hangloo says, "Hobit is perfectly positioned to capture the fast-growing online hobby learning market in India, and abroad since it's solving critical problems of affordability, community engagement, and delivering quality learning outcomes in this sector, with its 'Bharat' focused Hobby-tech platform."
As of today's date, Hobit has more than 50K+ users with 50+ tutors from three countries i.e India, UAE, Bahrain. Talking about their vision, Gaurav Dua, Co-founder, Hobit, said, they'll be investing heavily on team and product. "Our goal is to help you learn in the best way possible, across categories and mediums. The next decade will see new paradigms of learning and for this, we're building a new model of community and learning that is a fundamental evolution of ed-tech."
Hobit being the pioneer of the passion economy in India, claims to provide 360-degree solutions, powering skills, knowledge and giving life to the aspirations of potentially hundreds of millions of students across the country from all walks of life. The startup said in a press statement that it has developed a leveled curriculum with leading artists as well as pedagogy experts. These courses are delivered online in live classes by experienced educators and award-winning artists, in the convenience of home.
Commenting on the announcement, Lakshay Rohilla, Co-Founder, Hobit said, "The platform is seeing high engagement especially from Tier II & Tier III cities of India and we are constantly working to diversify our courses and community offerings, expand into more Tier-II and Tier-III cities, promote burgeoning talent, and implement global alliances."
Arpit Tyagi, Co-Founder, Hobit, further commented, "In a world full of content and consumption, what is scarce is engagement and interaction through live mentorship and community. We have seen increasing validation for our business model and overwhelming adoption from our learners to immerse themselves in our live-learning experience and communities, especially college students, working professionals, and homemakers."
So concluding, Hobit has seen aggressive growth in terms of users, content, and engagement since its launch in 2020, a press statement noted. And the startup also further has a roadmap ready to increase their bandwidth and develop dedicated solutions.
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