Unitus Seed Fund-backed Curiositi Learning Solutions develops interactive, hands-on science kits for children from grades 1 to 10. Its USP lies in minimal requirement of physical infrastructure to deploy the kits and use them affordability
MADHUMITA PRABHAKAR
GOING BEYOND GREAT INFRASTRUCTURE
Upon returning from the U.S., when Vinod Abraham and Manoj Thandassery were looking for good schools to admit their children, they realised that while the school infrastructure had improved over the years, the core classroom experience had barely changed. With information being an infinite commodity and technology aiding in its access, the duo felt that a child’s ability to creatively exploit and apply information will set them apart when seeking a career. And this can be achieved when they enjoy and understand what they study or learn.
FOR A HANDS-ON LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Founded in 2013, Curiositi Learning Solutions develops kits to make science learning interactive and hands-on for school children. In fact, Curiositi Quest, its customised program transforms science curriculum into a creative experience. Currently, it offers a portfolio of 100 science activity kits that map the syllabus in-depth for Grade One to Grade 10.
Playing the niche
An interesting feature about the kits is it doesn’t require labs, storage space, Internet access or extensive physical infrastructure. Curiositi ships the kits in batches so that the schools don’t have to store them. Additionally, the kits have been designed to be self-sufficient, child-friendly and safe, thus eliminating the need for labs. A second differentiator is its play on affordability. Its program is designed in a manner that it can be configured (or customised) to suit a school’s budget, much like one can configure a PC to one’s needs.
The long sales cycle
As is the case with most companies operating in the education space, the biggest challenge Curiositi faces is in tackling the longer sales cycles. Multiple stakeholder involvement, slower decision-making process and fragmented nature of the market results in highest sales costs. The biggest driver to growth (and in overcoming this challenge) has been to scale aggressively while creating value for schools.
Looking ahead
Backed by Unitus Seed Fund (in December 2014), the company has set an aggressive goal to deepen its reach in the school segment, broaden its penetration into other distribution channels and add several other products into its portfolio. While it has signed up with 25 schools across Punjab, Kerala, Nagaland and Gujarat in FY14, it plans to triple this number this year.
