Math Buddy receives funding from Menterra

CHENNAI: Math Buddy, a Vadodara-based startup developing hands-on and interactive math learning products that help children explore, experience and enjoy math learning, has received funding from social-impact fund Menterra.
With 1,500 activities, 800 interactive worksheets and assessments and an online Olympiad, Math Buddy is now in over 200 schools across 19 states.
Menterra’s equity funding will help the enterprise expand its operations to more schools, strengthen teacher engagement and training with focus on increasing learning outcomes. The enterprise will also receive support through senior advisors who will provide strategic guidance to the business.
“Many children develop a fear for math when they do not understand concepts in their formative years, especially when they are in Classes 3- 7. We want to change this. We want to help children enjoy learning math, and the key to achieve this is to help them learn with understanding,” said Kannan Bharadwaj, co-founder of Math Buddy.
Math Buddy’s product has been created based on detailed research on how people teach math concepts in different parts of the world.
“In the 21st century, most jobs rely on people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics, otherwise known as STEM skills. In addition to opening doors for better jobs, it also develops problem solving and critical thinking in students. It has become more important than ever before that schools start to instill STEM knowledge in students at an early stage by giving emphasis on conceptual math skills,” said Sudhanshu Malani, investment manager (education), Menterra Venture Advisers.
Math Buddy is now seeking to expand its scope to low-income schools all over India. “We want to make a difference in the way children learn math irrespective of what kind of schools they go to. We are also working on vernacular support and local curriculum alignments so that schools from any nook and corner of India can use our product,” said co-founder Bharathy Bharadwaj.
“We are present in over 200 schools right now, and we want to grow this to 2,000 schools in the next three years. The Menterra team has been actively working with us to designing strategies to reach low-income schools,” Kannan added. “They are also connecting us with mentors who have years of experience in areas that we lack.”