Omidyar Network India, Blume Ventures back edtech firm Uolo

Uolo Technologies, which offers online communication, management and classroom services for schools, has raised $2.7 million (about Rs 20 crore) in a fresh funding round, dubbed a pre-Series A round.

Omidyar Network India and Blume Ventures led the round, a statement said, without disclosing the other participants.

The Bengaluru-based startup will use the fresh capital to expand its technology and operations teams, and improve offerings for school administration and students, the statement said.

Started in 2013 by serial entrepreneur Pallav Pandey with Ankur Pandey and Siddharth P Singh, Uolo partners with private schools to bring the teacher-student-parent community online through its mobile app. It also helps students continue learning in online, social and after-school settings. 

Its last known fundraise was in 2016, when it received $210,000 in a seed funding round.

“Uolo has established itself as a leading parent-teacher communication platform. Through its low-cost, easy-to-use product offerings, Uolo is enabling schools to become digital,” Sarvesh Kanodia, principal, Omidyar Network India, said in the statement.

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Uolo works with more than 2,000 schools and one million students in 200+ cities across India.  

“Once the school, teachers, parents and students are digitally connected and this community moves online, it becomes possible to build on top of 6+ hours of daily learning that happens inside the school,” Pallav Pandey, co-founder and CEO, Uolo, said. 

“In the next two years, we plan to bring 20,000 schools comprising 10 million students to build an active online community,” he said.

According to data from VCCEdge, Uolo Technologies recorded a revenue of Rs 87.5 lakh against a loss of Rs 17.9 lakh in financial year 2018-19. The losses reduced significantly compared to Rs 38.4 lakh in FY18 and Rs 1.17 crore in FY17, while the revenue continued to grow at a three-year CAGR of 10.7%.