Tinkerly Startup Story – India’s Promising Edtech Startup

Coding is a craze amongst the Indian kids. It is so much more than just software development. Tinkely is one such startup that brings various things such as STEM education, IoT, robotics, AI, etc. for kids from standard 1 to 12. It uniquely blends both toys and vernacular content that enables their student to make smart AI gadgets, cool robots, write codes, etc. These skills are very much important to train these kids for the coming future. So let us get into this article to read the success story of this amazing Jaipur bases startup.

Tinkerly – Key Points

• Company Name – Tinkerly
• Founding Year – Jan 1, 2015
• Founders – Vivek Pathak, Sharad Bansal, OP Godara, Kapil Arya
• Headquarters – Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
• Company Type – Private
• Industry – Edtech, Software
• Number of employees – 50 - 75
• Total funding amount – INR 65 M
• Website – tinker.ly

Tinkerly – Founders

• Vivek Pathak – Vivek is the MD and co-founder of the company. Pathak holds a degree in MBA from XLRI Jsr. and he has a working experience of over 8.5 years in strategy management and software development. Vivek looks after talent acquisition, research, and strategy management in Tinkerly.
• Sharad Bansal – Sharad is the CEO and co-founder of the company. Sharad holds a degree in Bachelor of Technology in textile and a minor in business management from IIT Delhi. He looks after the marketing, investor relation, and investor in the company.
• OP Godara – OP is the co-founder and COO of the company. He holds a Bachelor's degree from IIT Delhi. Op leads to the converted deals, followed by operations, and business development in the company.
• Kapil Arya – Kapil is the CTO and co-founder of the comapny. Kapil holds a degree in B.Tech and M.Tech in chemical engineering from IIT Delhi. He heads the R & D Department in the company.

Tinkerly – Team

The team members of the company are as follows:

• Shalini Singh – Associate Business Manager
• Siddhart Soni – Product Designer
• Tanya Prabhakar – Manager of International Business
• Ran veer Singh – Accounts Executive
• Palak Sharma – HR Executive

Tinkerly – Brand Name, Logo, and Tagline

• Brand Name – The brand name of the company got originated from the word ‘Tinker’, which means a mischievous child. Since the company’s main focus is on children and hence the name perfectly suits them.
• Logo – Tinkerly’s logo is in bright yellow and black colour. It is simple and distinguishable as well.
• Tagline – The tagline of the company is – ‘Aaj ki Hobby, Kal ka Hunar’.

Tinkerly – Business Model

The company follows B2C (Business to Customer) and B2B (Business to Business) models.

Tinkerly – Services Offered

Some of the exclusive services offered by the company are as follows:

• 360-degree solution – The company provides 360 degrees solutions not just to students, but also the teachers, parents, and schools.
• Types of equipment & Kits – Tinkerly also provides topic wise portable practical teaching kits.
• Practice Sheets – The company also focuses on the chapter wise HW, thus cementing the concepts.
• Content – The team also provides text and video demos for every tool.
• Ponder Questions – Tinkerly has more than 10,000 open-ended high order thinking questions.
• 13 x 7 support – The company provides a 13 x 7 support system to all of its customers via live chat, call or email.

Tinkerly – Growth

Some of the growth factors of the company are as follows:

• More than 35,000 app users
• Over 12,000 monthly active users
• More than 1,50,000 students
• More than 1,000 paid users on the app
• Over 7000 teachers on the platform
• Earned revenue of INR 5.5 Cr in FY 2020
• Partnered with 250 schools across India
• Over 3,00,000 learning hours
• 60% of schools are from tier 2 and tier 3 cities

Tinkerly – Funding and Investors

Tinkerly has recently risen funding of INR 65 M in 1 round. The details of the funding and investors are mentioned below:

INR 65 M – Seed Round, Navneet, SucSeed, Rain (Rajasthan Angel Innovators Network), Keiretsu Forum, Sep 12, 2021

Tinkerly – Awards and Recognitions

Tinkely has won several awards for its commendable performance in the Edtech field. Some of them are as follows:

• Intel – DST Innovate for Digital India Challenge, 22 July 2015
• TATA Trusts – Science and Technology-based Social Entrepreneurship in India, Feb 2, 2016
• Royal Academy of Engineering – Third Place in Leaders in Innovation Fellowships, 2016 – 2017
• Education Evangelist of India – By Great Place to Study, 2019
• Global Education and Skill Summit Leadership Award – For Best Solutio in STEM Education, 2019

Tinkerly – Competitors

Some of the top competitors of the company are as follows:

• Subha
• Stones2Milestones
• Zoodles
• Learn2Earn
• SimpleK12

Tinkerly – Challenges Faced

Some of the significant challenges faced by the company are as follows:

• Traditional learning – This is one of the biggest challenges for the company as a lot of people in India still prefer to send their kids to the traditional form of learning. They are resistant to the change and even many schools and teachers consider technology as a threat to their profession.
• Low Budget – Many schools in India still cannot afford to inculcate technology in their education process. They have a limited budget and hence they are unable to implement the required changes.
• Absence of training – This is also one of the main challenges for the company. A lot of online teachers are less trained compared to offline trainers. This leads to various challenges and ultimately parents refrain from sending their kids for online education.
• Competitors – Edtech was new 7-8 years ago, but now several companies perform in this niche. Thus, Tinkerly has many competitors in the market and some of them are exceptionally good. The company has to perform very well daily to keep up with its competitors.

Tinkerly – Future Plans

Some of the upcoming plans for the future are as follows:

• The company wants to increase their app users in the coming months.
• They are also planning to execute their roadmap for paid users on the app.
• The company wants to onboard more teachers on its platform.
• Tinkerly is also looking to hire more employees as the business is growing.
• They will be focusing on increasing their revenue by the end of FY 2023.
• The startup will partner with more schools in Tier 2 and Tier 3.
• They will also partner with schools in Tier 1 cities.