The year 2020 witnessed a big leap in the edtech sector. Mumbai-based edtech startup LessonLeap gives live courses in life skills. The platform provides fun-filled live sessions to students on public speaking, language command skills and writing.
It was her daughters who could not continue extracurricular activities due to the COVID-19 lockdown that inspired entrepreneur Anusha Mahalingam to start LessonLeap. The startup targets students from kindergarten to Class VI. Anusha, along with her friend and Harvard Business School batchmate Deepti Sahi, launched LessonLeap in October 2020. Deepti, who is the co-founder and COO, and the other six members of the team function from the Netherlands. At the beginning itself, the startup received undisclosed pre-seed funding from Berlin-based Point Nine Capital and angel investors.
Right now, more than 20 teachers teach courses at LessonLeap. Each session is charged from Rs 500 to Rs 1,200. The courses are designed considering the age groups. The 45-90 minute long sessions stream one to four times a week and each batch has three to eight students.
The school curriculum may not be sufficient to develop the talents of children. Anusha believes that extracurricular activities are equally important for the development of a child’s personality. The platform intends to bring out such talents through reading, writing, drawing, discussion and theatre. Since the sessions are live, students can interact with the teachers. Anusha says more than 3000 students have enrolled for the courses in the first leg.
LessonLeap aims to penetrate the Indian market and expand its presence in Singapore, UAE and London in the coming months. It will also bring about a programme to improve conversational English for the audience in France and Germany where English is not the primary language. Deepti and Anusha have worked in leadership roles in other startups before. Deepti was the CEO of Amsterdam-based office booking platform Deskbookers while Anusha was the category management senior vice president at Hopscotch. The duo wishes to make LessonLeap an international brand.
