Bharti Airtel has acquired a strategic stake in Edtech startup Lattu Media Pvt Ltd (Lattu Kids) as part of the Airtel Startup Accelerator Program. The financial terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed.

The investment will enable Airtel to add Edtech to its premium digital content portfolio and give distribution scale to quality learning material from Lattu Kids. Airtel already has over 160 million monthly active users across its digital platforms – Airtel Thanks app, Airtel Xstream app and Wynk Music.

“At Airtel we aspire to support the growth of the start-up ecosystem through our digital platforms. And now more than ever, online education is a critical need for millions of young children who do not have access to regular classrooms. 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,” Adarsh Nair, Chief Product Officer, Bharti Airtel, said.

At over 500 million, India has the second-largest number of internet users in the world, driven by affordable smartphones and the lowest 4G data tariffs globally. This deep penetration of Internet has also led to wide adoption of online learning tools.

The Covid-19 pandemic and closure of schools has further accelerated the adoption of virtual classrooms and digitally enabled learning. It is estimated that in India, Edtech will become a $2-billion plus 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,” Vivek Bhutyani, Co-founder and CEO, Lattu Kids, said.

Lattu Kids becomes the fourth company to join the Airtel Startup Accelerator Program, which allows start-ups to leverage Airtel’s ecosystem, including its core strengths in data, distribution, networks and payments.

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