In late January the Russian-born edtech startup Novakid closed a $1.5 million funding round involving South Korean VC BonAngels and Russian VC firm Leta Capital. The money will be used to develop Novakid’s technology further and to support its international expansion plans.
Founded in 2017 by Max Azarov, Novakid touts itself as “a next-generation early English learning platform.” In addition to practicing English remotely with native-speaking teachers, kids from 4 to 12 years can enjoy AI-powered games and training apps that use “authentic content in English language.”
Novakid is now based in Krakow, a Polish city which is asserting itself as a major startup hub in Eastern Europe. Like many other Russian startup entrepreneurs, Azarov felt his company would be in a better position to develop internationally from outside Russia.
“Capital is more easily available in Poland than in Russia,” Azarov said in an exchange with East-West Digital News, even though Novakid did not raise money from any Polish investor to date.
The startup has hired its marketing team in Poland, enjoying “cheaper workforce than in Western Europe.” Another part of the team is still located in Russia.
International highs and lows
“Poland is like a launchpad for expansion across Europe,” said the entrepreneur, who has already made his service available in six languages and 36 countries. These include Germany, Poland, Russia, Spain and Turkey.
Expanding to new countries is not always easy, though, concedes Azarov. For example, Novakid tried unsuccessfully to launch on the French market through online promotion campaigns. “But we’ll try again with new approaches,” he said.
Azarov, who used to work at LG, got in touch with BonAngels through his connections in Korean tech business circles.
“South Koreans rarely invest abroad at the seed stage. BonAngels, however, had a very successful previous experience with an edtech startup. This made discussions easier,” the entrepreneur told EWDN.
Leta Capital is a firm believer in virtual education technologies. The Russian VC firm already invested in Devar, a publisher or AR-enhanced books, and Ceverum, a startup that uses virtual reality in its staff training solutions.
“Virtualized training processes, machine learning for user experience personalization, and gamification are already in demand at the global level,” notes Alex Chachava, a successful entrepreneur IT entrepreneur who launched Leta Capital eight years ago.
The firm has invested $15.1 million in total in 22 early-stage projects so far. It has just announced a yearly return of around 11% for its investors.
