UpKraft Raises ₹1.6 Crore Pre-Seed Funding Led by PedalStart

Bengaluru-based extracurricular learning startup UpKraft has raised ₹1.6 crore in a pre-seed funding round led by PedalStart, with participation from several angel investors.

The fresh capital will be used to accelerate AI product development, expand the company’s presence across Bengaluru and Gurugram, strengthen its technology platform and operations, enhance customer experience, and build teams across product, engineering, growth, sales, and tutor operations.

Founded in July 2025 by Tejasvi Singh Kushwah, Varun Mangal, and Kritika Varandani, UpKraft is building an AI-powered extracurricular learning platform that combines expert-led offline instruction with technology-driven personalised learning. The startup partners with professional tutors to deliver structured learning programmes at homes, residential communities, and schools.

Unlike conventional extracurricular coaching, UpKraft integrates artificial intelligence into the learning journey through proprietary tools such as its AI Practice Companion and Progress Insights. These features provide personalised practice recommendations, track student performance, identify learning gaps, and offer parents real-time visibility into their child’s progress through data-driven insights.

The platform currently offers structured, level-based programmes across music and other extracurricular disciplines. It has already partnered with multiple residential communities in Bengaluru and Gurugram, enabling children to access organised skill-development programmes closer to home.

Over the next 12 to 18 months, the startup plans to significantly increase student enrolments, enhance learning outcomes through AI-driven personalisation, strengthen its AI and data science capabilities, and expand its teams across product, engineering, sales, community marketing, customer success, and tutor onboarding.