Matrix-backed Crejo.Fun shut down after school reopenings and a failed raise

Online extracurricular learning platform offering kids yoga, chess, dance, public speaking and arts classes priced INR 8,000 to 26,999.

That children's extracurricular classes (yoga, chess, dance, public speaking) could be a paid online category after the pandemic.

$3M pre-seed from Matrix Partners and 021 Capital, with angels including Kunal Shah

IIM Bengaluru alumni Vikas Bansal and Ankit Agarwal founded Crejo.Fun in 2020 to help children discover passions through creative learning. In stealth in 2021 it raised a $3M pre-seed from Matrix Partners and 021 Capital, with angels including Kunal Shah and Sameer Nigam.

The reopening of schools after the pandemic led to a drastic drop in kids enrolling, sources told Inc42. The company says it still grew about 7x in six months after reopening and had 4.9 ratings, but was running out of funds and could not raise capital in the fundraising environment.

In a June 2022 townhall the founders told staff the startup would wind down, affecting 170-200 people; it refunded customers, placed over 90% of staff in jobs and sought to sell its IP to return investor capital.

Sources told Inc42 school reopening drastically cut enrollments on the platform.

The founders said they ran out of funds and could not raise capital in the funding winter despite continued growth.

Inc42 noted extracurricular edtech startups were struggling to raise as such activities took a backseat in Indian households once schools reopened.

A pandemic-born consumer category can shrink as fast as it grew; growing 7x from a small base does not save a company whose burn needs a funding round it cannot get.

As of 30 June 2022, Crejo.Fun was winding down, trying to sell its IP and product, and had refunded customers' fees according to the company. Inc42 counted edtech layoffs of 3,898 employees in 2022 so far, including FrontRow's 145 and Yellow Class's 19.