OYO to set up learning centres for kids, partners with ed-tech startup PlanetSpark

Budget hospitality chain OYO has struck a partnership with Gurugram-based ed-tech startup PlanetSpark to launch after-school learning spaces for children.

In a statement, the ed-tech startup said that the deal was part of an effort to set up 500 learning centres for children from the lower kindergarten to the eighth standard across India. PlanetSpark already operates 400 learning centres across seven Indian metros where it operates.

As part of the deal, OYO will open up its physical spaces for the centres, thereby providing PlanetSpark a monetisation stream that goes beyond offering areas for hospitality services and co-working stations. 

“We realised that OYO had similar aggressive plans as us to scale up their supply over the next few months. Hence, instead of putting our efforts separately, we decided to join hands to have a force multiplier,” Kunal Malik, co-founder of PlanetSpark stated.

Founded in 2016 by former UrbanClap and Hindustan Unilever executives Kunal Malik and Manish Dhooper, respectively, PlanetSpark trains teachers to conduct tuitions at home using its gamified learning tools and supplementary content for students from KG to 7th standard.

The platform employs a network of homemakers who train to be teachers on the platform and use a blended learning approach through face-to-face classrooms, mobile-based learning games, educational cartoons, learning activity boxes, workbooks and board games.

The company, which counts Matrix Partners India as one of its investors, raised Rs 1.6 crore in December last year from FIITJEE Ltd, the test preparation company, in which Matrix is also an investor

For OYO, the move comes after it recently forayed into the co-working space with the launch of its Powerstation and Workflo offering, as per a report by online publication Entrackr. Media reports also stated that OYO had acquired co-working firm Innov8 in an all-cash deal

OYO also entered the online food business recently by launching private labels on delivery platforms Swiggy, Zomato and Uber Eats.