Chess academy HobSpace has bagged $4.5 million in its Pre-Series A funding round

• ByStartupStory     |    May 19, 2022

HobSpace is a Mumbai-based chess academy that has raised $4.5 million in its Pre-Series A round of funding which was led by Mankekar Family Office, Artha Venture Fund and Siddharth Shah among the others. The company will utilise the funds to reach worldwide and pace up its product development. It would also invest to improve its technology for a better experience for students.

The startup was founded in 2019 by Priya Goel Sheth, Bhaskar Raju, Konduru, Dharmil Sheth, Harsh Jain and Nirupam Sheth with an aim to create a platform that would offer courses in chess for children within the age group of 3-14 years and also prepare them for the international level. The company had raised Rs 1 crore in its recent funding round from Inflection Point Ventures in January last year. 

Kondru, the co-founder of the startup said that they have established a top-class first online global chess academy. The new round of funding would allow the company to extend further and make chess coaching accessible to children worldwide. The startup was founded as a platform just for extra-curricular activities but eventually, it pivoted to become a chess learning platform. 

HobSpace also claims to have taught over 15,000 students globally with children from India, the UK, the US and others. It has also hosted various chess coaches from many countries like India, the UK and the US for training young minds. Currently, the company competes with Crejo, Kaabil Kids, and Victorious Chess Academy among others.

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