Existing Investor S Chand invests in ed-tech startup Smartivity

Education based publishing house S Chand & Company Ltd has decided to invest an additional amount of Rs 35 lakhs ($53,891) in ed-tech startup Smartivity Labs Pvt. Ltd, it said in a stock exchange filing.

The tech enables startup, Smartivity, which deploys augmented reality and robotics for kids’ learning projects, will use the investment for its business operations and product portfolio expansion.

As per the deal, the publishing house will acquire 176 compulsorily convertible cumulative preference shares at Rs 19,853 per share.

Currently, S Chand holds 23.29% of the company on a fully diluted basis.

Smartivity had raised $1 million (around Rs 6.7 crore) in pre-Series A funding led by S Chand and early-stage investment firm AdvantEdge Partners in May 2016. The round also saw participation from Singapore-based fund CFG Offshore Holdings, US-based fund Tandem Capital and a clutch of individual investors.

S Chand had previously invested a seed amount of $200,000 in Smartivity in 2015

IIT-Delhi alumni Apoorv Gupta, Ashwini Kumar, and Rajat Jain and communications graduate Tushar Amin started Smartivity in January 2015. Kumar, Gupta, and Jain had earlier founded a startup called Yoohoobox, which offered art and craft projects on a monthly subscription format.

Smartivity conceptualizes, designs and develops activity-based science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning concepts for the education and toy industry to make learning smarter for children.

Founded in 1939 by Shyam Lal Gupta, S Chand Group is now owned and managed by Himanshu Gupta and Dinesh Kumar Jhunjhnuwala and their families. S Chand had raised nearly Rs 179 crore ($27 million) from International Finance Corporation, the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank, and existing investor Everstone Capital in November 2015. In 2012, Everstone picked up 35% stake in S Chand & Co for $38 million. In 2014, S Chand Group acquired a majority stake in Delhi-based publisher New Saraswati House (I) Pvt Ltd.

The company made its trading debut on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in May last year. At that time, its shares listed at a slight premium to its initial public offering price before slipping. Currently, its shares are trading at Rs 402.55 on the BSE.