Bangalore-based Magic Crate, an early childhood learning brand, has raised an undisclosed amount in its third round of institutional funding led by Fireside Ventures. The Company had earlier raised funding led by Mohandas Pai backed Aarin Capital and 3One4 Capital. The latter also participated in the current round.
Magic Crate was started in 2015 by IIT-IIM alumnus Viswanathan Ramakrishnan and ex-McKinsey consultant Karthik Lakshman. The start-up provides an inquiry & play-based program for early childhood learning at home.
“Research shows that about 80% of critical brain development happens before the child turns 8. This has a direct correlation with what they are exposed to, during those years. Also, in this age group, they have a phenomenal amount of free time and it becomes a big challenge to engage them at home. Magic Crate is solving this pain point for millions of busy, but well-intentioned parents.”, says Viswanathan Ramakrishnan, Co-founder and CEO, Magic Crate.
The company offers a subscription-based service that produces and delivers hands-on activities for kids aged 1.5-13 years. The activities are designed by a team of early childhood experts & product designers, to be educational and also entertaining for kids. Every month, the child explores a new area that excites them, such as space or rainforest. And Magic Crate provides all the necessary materials, ideas and instructions for these themed activities.
Magic Crate has shipped more than 5 lakh crates till date and is growing 100% Y-o-Y. The Company is on track to touch more than 70,000 shipments per month by March 2019. THe company claims that within 3 years of launch, our products have impacted 1 Lakh + families/children in the age group of 1.5 to 13 years; we have crossed an annual revenue run rate of $ 2 Mn+, and are unit profitable.
Kannan Sitaram, Venture Partner, Fireside Ventures says, “Magic Crate is going after a huge white space. During the early years, the child spends more time at home than at school, and yet there are no large consumer brands catering to millennial parents looking to engage their children productively at home. The team has built a solid product line and business model that’s allowing them to scale in a very capital efficient way.”.
Kannan Sitaram will also be taking a board seat in Magic Crate. The funds raised will be used to develop a new range of products, marketing the brand & growing the sale channel.
Karthik Lakshman, Co-founder and COO, Magic Crate, says, “Magic Crate has been unit profitable for over a year thanks to our strong repeat rates and 50%+ gross margins. With this business vertical scaling well with strong unit economics, we are now working on launching exciting new products to our customer base and this funding round helps accelerate our efforts.”
Speaking about Fireside Venturesm it is an early stage consumer brand-focused venture fund launched in 2017 with a focus on consumer brands. Fireside invests in young start-ups and supports them through their evolution by providing in house resources along with a partner and advisor network. The fund aims to invest in consumer brands across sectors such as food and beverages, personal care and home products. It was founded by Kanwaljit Singh, who was previously associated with early-stage venture capital firm Helion Venture Partners. Singh has experience of more than 30 years in consumer marketing and venture investing space in companies like Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Intel and Carlyle Group. The founding team also includes Vinay Singh as Partner who has more than 10 years of experience across consumer brands & digital marketing and VS Kannan Sitaram as Venture Partner who has more than 36 years of experience across Business, Brands & Investing.
Fireside Ventures current portfolio includes Yoga Bar, Samosa Singh, Goodness Beverages, Design Café, Bombay Shaving Company, Mama Earth, Vahdam Teas, Kwik 24, Alpha Vector, Imagine Marketing, Pipa Bella and Magic Crate.
[Top Image - TheHindu.com]
Magic Crate was started in 2015 by IIT-IIM alumnus Viswanathan Ramakrishnan and ex-McKinsey consultant Karthik Lakshman. The start-up provides an inquiry & play-based program for early childhood learning at home.
“Research shows that about 80% of critical brain development happens before the child turns 8. This has a direct correlation with what they are exposed to, during those years. Also, in this age group, they have a phenomenal amount of free time and it becomes a big challenge to engage them at home. Magic Crate is solving this pain point for millions of busy, but well-intentioned parents.”, says Viswanathan Ramakrishnan, Co-founder and CEO, Magic Crate.
The company offers a subscription-based service that produces and delivers hands-on activities for kids aged 1.5-13 years. The activities are designed by a team of early childhood experts & product designers, to be educational and also entertaining for kids. Every month, the child explores a new area that excites them, such as space or rainforest. And Magic Crate provides all the necessary materials, ideas and instructions for these themed activities.
Magic Crate has shipped more than 5 lakh crates till date and is growing 100% Y-o-Y. The Company is on track to touch more than 70,000 shipments per month by March 2019. THe company claims that within 3 years of launch, our products have impacted 1 Lakh + families/children in the age group of 1.5 to 13 years; we have crossed an annual revenue run rate of $ 2 Mn+, and are unit profitable.
Kannan Sitaram, Venture Partner, Fireside Ventures says, “Magic Crate is going after a huge white space. During the early years, the child spends more time at home than at school, and yet there are no large consumer brands catering to millennial parents looking to engage their children productively at home. The team has built a solid product line and business model that’s allowing them to scale in a very capital efficient way.”.
Kannan Sitaram will also be taking a board seat in Magic Crate. The funds raised will be used to develop a new range of products, marketing the brand & growing the sale channel.
Karthik Lakshman, Co-founder and COO, Magic Crate, says, “Magic Crate has been unit profitable for over a year thanks to our strong repeat rates and 50%+ gross margins. With this business vertical scaling well with strong unit economics, we are now working on launching exciting new products to our customer base and this funding round helps accelerate our efforts.”
Speaking about Fireside Venturesm it is an early stage consumer brand-focused venture fund launched in 2017 with a focus on consumer brands. Fireside invests in young start-ups and supports them through their evolution by providing in house resources along with a partner and advisor network. The fund aims to invest in consumer brands across sectors such as food and beverages, personal care and home products. It was founded by Kanwaljit Singh, who was previously associated with early-stage venture capital firm Helion Venture Partners. Singh has experience of more than 30 years in consumer marketing and venture investing space in companies like Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Intel and Carlyle Group. The founding team also includes Vinay Singh as Partner who has more than 10 years of experience across consumer brands & digital marketing and VS Kannan Sitaram as Venture Partner who has more than 36 years of experience across Business, Brands & Investing.
Fireside Ventures current portfolio includes Yoga Bar, Samosa Singh, Goodness Beverages, Design Café, Bombay Shaving Company, Mama Earth, Vahdam Teas, Kwik 24, Alpha Vector, Imagine Marketing, Pipa Bella and Magic Crate.
[Top Image - TheHindu.com]
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