The Covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed the landscape of the educational sector in the country. Increased connectivity and technology has not only enabled ed-tech companies to come up with out-of-the-box learning solutions, it has also encouraged educators and parents to be receptive to innovative methods of teaching their children.

For Chennai-based Flinto Learning Solutions, founded by Arunprasad Durairaj, Vijay Babu Gandhi and Shreenidhi Srirangam in 2013, thinking-out-of-the-box is more than just a business cliché. The early childhood education start-up started with ‘Flintobox’ - an educational subscription-box focussed on activity-based learning for children between 2-12 years of age.

Sensing a huge opportunity for subscription model educational learning kits, the company introduced ‘Flintoclass’ in 2017. Termed as ‘pre-school in a box’, Flintoclass is a comprehensive learning product for nursery, Pre-KG, LKG and UKG. It includes a research-based early learning curriculum, daily lesson plans, pre-packaged materials for pre-school educators.

Flintoclass has reached over 700 pre-schools across eight countries including India, Malaysia, Laos, Singapore, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait and Indonesia.

The pandemic-led lockdown brought down the shutters on schools and educational institutions across the globe leaving Flintoclass in a lurch. But, the company sensed an opportunity in the adversity.

Amidst the height of lockdown, the company introduced ‘Flintoclass@HOME’ - a hybrid pre-school learning experience designed to deliver high-quality preschool education at the doorstep. A monthly subscription product, Flintoclass@HOME comes with an easy-to-use preschool kit and pre-recorded learning sessions for children between 1.5-5.5 years.

Direct-to-home model

“Because pre-schools are closed now, we have taken a direct-to-home model where parents are directly subscribing to Flintoclass@HOME and literally converting their living room into school so that their kids don't miss out on the early learning experience,” said Arunprasad Durairaj, CEO, Flinto Learning Solutions.

Launched during the nation-wide lockdown, Flintoclass@HOME, which comes in a three- and nine-month subscription, has already garnered over 3,000 subscribers.

“The demand for Flintoclass@HOME has been high because with every passing month, parents are realising that it may not be safe to send their kids to schools this year,” Durairaj said, adding, “Also, there is a digital overdose for children and the interaction with physical things are coming down steeply.”

In the first week of July, Flinto Learning Solutions closed a Pre-Series B funding of $7.2 million (₹50 crore approximately) led by Lightbox Ventures, to support its rapid growth in the early learning space and to expand its newly-launched pre-school solution.

“If the Covid is going to persist until the end of this year, then we see ourselves investing and growing Flintoclass@HOME. We also intend to bring more solutions and products to home for now,” Durairaj said.

Not just in India, Flinto is also planning to launch the Flintoclass@HOME product in overseas market since schools in many countries continue to remain shut due to the ongoing pandemic.

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