Indian math whiz startup Bhanzu secures Epiq funding

Student math app hopes to use the Series B funding to expand its presence in the United States

By Vishnu Kaimal

Amid an upheaval in the edtech sector, the startup Bhanzu, a student app that makes math easy and accessible, has raised $16.5 million in its Series B funding round led by VC firm Epiq Capital. The round also saw participation from Mumbai-based Z3Partners and existing investors Lightspeed Ventures and Eight Roads.

Bhanzu hopes to use the Series B funding to expand its presence in the United States. Bhanzu was founded in 2020 by Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash, a math whiz nicknamed the UsainBolt of Mathematics by the BBC. He was given the moniker of the world’s fastest human calculator after he broke records held by Scott Flansburg and Shakuntala Devi when he was only fifteen.

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His startup is a student app that offers a curriculum that helps students increase their proficiency in maths. It claims that the curriculum has been curated with over four years of data collection and research. Its AI-driven curriculum offers interactive programs and customisable learning to students.

Bhanzu has a presence in India, the US, the UK and the Middle East. This second wave of funding comes two years after a very successful Series A round that saw the startup raise $15 million. Bhanzu stated that it has registered exponential growth, nearly 8 times since its first funding round and boasts a positive cash flow.

“The US maths education market has significant potential, but it is dominated by large, billion-dollar companies that have not innovated their curricula or effectively embraced technology. This gap creates a significant opportunity for Bhanzu to revolutionise maths education in the US,” founder and CEO Bhanu Prakash said on the new funding round.

Bhanzu’s success in its second round of funding comes at a time when the Indian edtech sector is floundering, with some formerly very heavy-hitters like BYJU’s facing insolvency issues, while Unacademy is reportedly contemplating a merger.

Funding acquired by Indian edtech startups has been declining systematically over the years, diving to a near horrific 88% to $283 million in 2023 from $2.4 billion in 2022. However, Bhanzu may very well be the turnaround the sector so sorely needed.