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AR Toy Maker PlayShifu raises $17 Million in Series B Round Led by Inventus Capital

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Bengaluru based educational toymaker PlayShifu has raised $17 million (Rs 124.5 crore) as part of its Series B round led by existing investor Inventus Capital India with Inflexor Ventures joining as a new investor. The round also saw participation from existing investors Chiratae Ventures and Bharat Innovation Fund.

PlayShifu had earlier raised $7 million in Series A round led by Chiratae Ventures in 2019. With this Series B round the valuation of the company reached a little over $25 million.

PlayShifu will utilize the funds raised to expand its product portfolio from 10 to 30 products to cover over 20 early-learning skills by 2022. It will also use the capital to strengthen its team and expand its base globally for which it will hire mini teams around the world.

Founded by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur graduates, Vivek Goyal, and Dinesh Advani in 2016 PlayShifu creates AR toys that provide educational play experiences for kids. It provides 16 products that offer unique tactile play experiences for ages 4-12 years which helps the kids to build STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and other foundational skills such as critical thinking, engineering, and geography.

Its three toy platforms, Shifu Orboot, Shifu Plugo, and Shifu Tacto are now available in different countries as they make screen time more meaningful through a physical and digital, or as we like to say, phygital experience.

PlayShifu products are currently available in 35 countries. According to the company, it had more than doubled its user base to 600,000 from 250,000 in 2019 and registered a 150 percent year-over-year growth in revenue for the third consecutive year.

“With screen time for children ages 4 to 9 averaging as high as five hours per day, we have a responsibility to help kids develop their early-learning skills in this digital age. Our products offer rich and variable content that engages children ten times better than the top 25 apps worldwide,” says, Vivek Goyal, Co-Founder & Director, Playshifu.