CBA forays into ed-tech space, invests in Jay Robotix with Singapore Angel Network

Hyderabad incubated and now Singapore headquartered Jay Robotix raised an undisclosed bridge round from CBA, the investment vehicle of San Francisco headquartered Scaale Group.

The investment allows Jay Robotix to prepare towards a Series A round through Indian and international VCs to open up the European, Asian and North American markets.

CBA was joined, in the current round, by Singapore Angel Network (SGAN), the angel investment arm of the Thakral Group in Singapore. This is the second investment by CBA in the space of three months.

Jay Robotix, founded in 2010, aspires to be the largest educational robotics company in the world. With products and services targeted at the Educational sector, Jay Robotix is building a portfolio of high technology robotics solutions. The company has built the highly affordable ROBOX line of educational robotic kits for K-12 students which includes building blocks, a ‘brain’ and an intuitive 3D simulation software which allows the students to build various mechanisms and simulate them in real-life situations.

The 400 plus hours of activities on ROBOX are mapped to the curriculum of the students from class 6th to 10th (or ages 10-16 years) related to various Science, Technology, Engineering and Math concepts (STEM) that allows students to link the classroom concepts to the activities on ROBOX in a practical way. The offering is bundled with a unique online learning analytics and assessment platform that ensures students are on the right track in developing various mechanisms.

“Singapore is an attractive market for Jay Robotix as it’s an early adopter of education technologies and also a gateway to South-East Asia,” said the official release.

For engineering students, Jay Robotix offers a Robotic ‘Centre of Excellence (COE)’ lab installation with various mechatronic and robotic platforms that allow students to learn concepts related to mechanics, electronics, embedded systems, cloud computing, mobile applications, and many more.

The company has recently partnered with iCarnegie, an affiliate of the Carnegie Mellon University, USA, to certify Indian students taking the courses in the respective COEs in and around their colleges/universities.

In association with Manipal Global Education, the company is also offering online, distance-learning courses with practical applications on its robotic kits.

“We are seeing a lot of schools globally taking practical learning and STEM initiatives beyond the classroom. Unfortunately, the existing technologies are either too expensive or not holistic enough to address the masses. The Jay Robotix product portfolio allows students to take up interest in STEM concepts right from school, followed by industry-readiness and skill development courses in engineering institutes. We see huge interest globally from education institutes as well as Ed-tech companies to bundle Jay Robotix’s offerings within their ecosystem” says Ashwin Sanzgiri, Vice President - Capital Group, Scaale of which CBA is a part of.

Scaale has also advised Jay Robotix on closing strategic partnerships in Singapore and India, and are close on similar arrangements in Spain, UK, USA and Japan. “ROBOX is built to international standards and curricula, and with its affordability, is adding value for partners to integrate it with their training or content offerings," Ashwin added.

The company would be utilising the funds raised through CBA primarily for product refinements, marketing and driving sales. Sudhir Reddy, Founder & CEO, Jay Robotix.

“Our objective till now was to ensure all measures towards an aggressive market launch and this investment helps us towards product refinement, certifications and product readiness. The Series A round would simply be towards servicing the strategic partnerships we have signed and are signing globally,” added Reddy.

CBA, the investment arm of Scaale Group, specifically looks at investing in cross border ventures which have a significant potential to scale up globally. The objective of the investments is to infuse smart capital in a venture where international investors strategically mentor innovative startups for a global play. SGAN actively looks at investing in innovative companies which they can support in Singapore and the rest of Asia.

“We hope to leverage our networks to accelerate the company’s expansion and to ensure that we maximize access of Jay Robotix’s impressive product portfolio to interested customers in the region,” Satveer Singh Thakral, CEO, SGAN.