McKinsey alums close on $1 million pre-seed round to expand their edtech platform in the U.S.

NEW YORK, April 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- EdCraft, an early education platform launched by former McKinsey executives, raised $1 million from a group of Silicon Valley based angels. The startup aims to equip its students, aged 6-13, with essential 21^st-century skills. 

The platform provides story-driven game-based learning courses, developed by the world's top educators, PhDs, and Stanford graduates. 

"Thanks to animated storytelling, children see our learning courses as games or cartoons," said Galina Kan, EdCraft co-founder. "As a parent myself, I believe that a good school curriculum is essential, but often not sufficient for a child's development. We collected feedback from thousands of users to create a product that will help children excel in life, both personally and professionally." 

EdCraft provides engaging content on STEM subjects, as well as building knowledge and skills essential for future success, including financial literacy, emotional intelligence, and sex education. 

Children move through EdCraft levels at their own pace, guided by 12 unique mascots -- EduCat, Mousentist, Knowala and others, developed by a Hollywood graphic designer. Parents can monitor their child's course progress and receive weekly reports by email. 

EdCraft aims to benefit from the recent edtech boom, driven by demand from remote learning. Coursera saw $293.5 million in revenue in 2020, a roughly 59% increase from the previous year, when the company reported $184.4 million. New opportunities attract VCs: in its latest batch, a prominent accelerator, Y Combinator, had the largest number of edtech startups.

"There's no going back when it comes to using technology in education," said Galina Kan. "But remote learning should also help students with their emotional well-being and social integration, as well as teaching essential life skills, and that's exactly what EdCraft is doing."  

Already tested by more than 130,000 parents in Europe, EdCraft will use the funds to accelerate its expansion in the U.S.

SOURCE V Startup Agency