FrontRow, a leading learning and community platform, has raised an undisclosed amount from music mogul Rapper Raftaar and entertainment and music conglomerate AK Projekts, six months after raising $3.2 million in seed funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Elevation Capital, and global Indian icon Deepika Padukone.
In a short period of time, FrontRow has earned the distinction of being a forerunner in the non-academic category. The platform operates on a subscription model, with courses ranging from INR 1,000/- to INR 10,000/- for lifetime access. In the past, the site has collaborated with Neha Kakkar, DIVINE, Suresh Raina, Amit Trivedi, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Raju Srivastava, Sunburn, MortaL, and 8bit Thug on creative projects. The bespoke masterclasses are designed to assist students in honing their passion and aptitude under the expert direction and mentorship of industry leaders in music, comedy, and cricket.
The interactive courses are the result of months of focused development with celebrity instructors and high-tech production quality, and they currently have a user base of over 500,000 people. Rapper Raftaar comes forward to invest in FrontRow.
“We are excited to join hands with Raftaar on the mission of democratising access to learning with partnerships with some of the industry’s finest peers and experts at an affordable price from the comfort of your home. Last year was exciting for us as we launched more than 10 courses with more than 500,000+ users on our platform. We aim to grow by 500% in the coming few quarters with an additional 10 more courses. Over last year we have learnt that creative and athletic arts are not just hobbies but crucial part of identities of our users and infact of 99% of Indians. We are aggressively trying to expand our offerings not only in quantity but also in quality. We continue to aspire to make learning accessible, easier and enjoyable at FrontRow with partnerships like these,” Mikhil Raj, Co-Founder, FrontRow said on the development.
Rapper Raftaar Commented further stating that “I am very excited to be joining forces with the stellar crew at FrontRow and see how I can add value in fostering the culture of non-academic education across India. In my teenage years I was always motivated by the creative arts and felt like a misfit in the conventional educational set-up. I have always believed there is more to life than traditional degrees and textbook knowledge and skill development deserves its’ spotlight now, more than ever. Whilst interacting with young minds during my tours in different cities, I realised that rural India has alternate passions, most of which it cannot pursue. The students would come up to me and talk about their acting, singing, and filmmaking dreams. They didn’t want to do engineering, IT or medical. But they had limited avenues because they weren’t in Mumbai or New Delhi. I want to make non-academic learning accessible and affordable for small-town Indians and hope to do so as I embark on this new journey. A big shout out to my partner, Ankit Khanna for making this happen.”
Adding on Ankit Khanna, Founder, AK Projekts elaborates, “We are extremely bullish on the opportunity presented in the celebrity-driven vocational training platform segment in India. We believe there is huge merit and scope in this business that allows a wide section of people to have access to leaders from their respective fields and to learn from them directly. We are excited to support a new archetype for learning—an assortment of education, entertainment and community.”
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