Upskilling platform Josh Talks raises $3.5 mn from Ankur Capital, others

The firm previously raised $1.5 mn from the New York-based Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF)

Regional content and upskilling platform Josh Talks has raised $3.5 million in a round led by Ankur Capital and other marquee investors such as Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm), Vaibhav Domkundwar (Better Capital), Vineeta Singh (SUGAR Cosmetics), Ritesh Agarwal (OYO), and Ankur Warikoo (Ex-Nearbuy).

The organisation will utilise the freshly raised funds to refine its product and scale Josh Skills as well as experiment with new product lines catering to the aspirations of this user segment.

The firm previously raised $1.5 million from the New York-based Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF).

Josh Talks founded in 2015, has an average of 85 million monthly views across platforms and has forayed into interactive educational courses by launching the Josh Skills app which has over 200,000 paid subscribers from Tier-2 and 3 cities.

“Over the last two years, we have doubled down on two things - growing our distribution across 10 languages and creating a product that monetises this distribution network. We have been able to understand the aspirations of young India and have built one of the largest online communities, which is in turn directed towards our app, Josh Skills with 0 CAC. With the new capital, our goal is to expand our offerings, strengthen our executive team and take Josh to every household in India”, said Supriya Paul, CEO and co-founder, Josh Talks.

“We believe that when learning happens in a social context, it leads to better educational outcomes and higher retention rates. On average, a user spends 51 minutes daily on the Josh Skills app, conversing in English which is a testament to the product’s success. We believe with new course launches and a refined product, Josh will become the go-to for the next billion users,” added Shobhit Banga, CPO and co-founder, Josh Talks.

Indian startups have raised over $10 billion during the first quarter of 2022, up from $5.7 billion in the same period in 2021, according to data sourced from Venture Intelligence.