Bharti Airtel on Wednesday announced it has acquired a strategic stake in edtech startup Lattu Kids as part of the Airtel Startup Accelerator Programme.
Mumbai-based Lattu Kids specialises in digital learning tools for children and the investment would give distribution scale to quality-learning material from the app, the company said in a statement.
Airtel, however, did not disclose the investment amount.
It said in a statement that this investment will enable Airtel to add Edtech to its digital content portfolio and give distribution scale to quality learning material from Lattu Kids.
"We believe that Lattu Kids can make a positive impact in the space of online education and are excited to have them in our accelerator and partner in their growth," said Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel.
Lattu Kids app focuses on improving English vocabulary, English reading and Maths skills for children under age 10 via entertaining, fun-learning animated videos and games.
It is estimated that in India, edtech will become a $2 billion industry by 2021.
"With Airtel, we have found an equally passionate partner and our synergies in this space will allow us to scale Lattu to millions of kids in India across classes and make it a much-loved home grown edTech brand," said Vivek Bhutyani, Co-founder and CEO, LattuKids.
Lattu Kids has become the fourth company to join the Airtel Startup Accelerator Programme. As part of this program, Airtel is looking to help startups leverage its robust ecosystem, including its core strengths in data, distribution, networks and payments. This includes access to a vast online and offline distribution network that touches 300m+ customers, deep market understanding and platform of global strategic partners. Further, start-ups also get access to advisory services from Airtel’s executive team.
Airtel has over 160 million monthly active users across its digital platforms - Airtel Thanks app, Airtel Xstream app and Wynk Music.