By Madhurima Ghosh –
Majority of children when asked about the most hated or fearful subject would always point towards Mathematics. Generations after generations this subject has remained strenuous for both parents and their pupil. With new age technology, many start-ups are trying to help children to make things better. Similarly the Hyderabad-based maths edtech startup, Bhanzu is also one such platform founded by the worlds fastest human calculator- Neelakantha Bhanu Prakash.
This maths startup was established in November 2020 which provides experiential maths learning courses online for children from 5 – 16 years
Though established in 2020, this year in February, the startup raised its fund of $2 million led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Furthermore, it had active participation by prominent angel investors such as Nitin Gupta, CEO of Uni; Maninder Gulati, Global CSO at Oyo; Ashish Gupta, ex-Helion MD; Gaurav Munjal, CEO of Unacademy; Kunal Shah, CEO of CRED and Biswa Kalyan Rath, the noted stand-up comedian.
When asked about Bhanzu, the 22-year old Bhanu states, “Through Bhanzu, we aim to eradicate maths phobia and encourage careers in maths and STEM fields among learners from across the world.”
Since childhood Bhanu had interest in maths, noticing this his parents encouraged him more into maths by introducing him to maths puzzles and contests. He says that in the beginninghe did not even make it to top 10 in the contests, but it took a lot of deliberate and constant practice to become better and faster at maths.
At the age of thirteen, he bagged the title of India’s fastest human calculator and Eventually became the World’s Fastest Human Calculator at 15, breaking the world record of maths legends like Shakuntala Devi and Scott Flansburg.
After becoming world’s fastest human calculator he visited many countries and interacted with students across the globe which made him realize that every 3 out of 4 children is panicked about maths.
Thus Bhanu took a step to build a cognitive curriculum that will make learning maths a more fun and relatable experience for the students.
He was Titled as the “Usain Bolt of Mathematics”by BBC News and also he was the first Indian and Asian to win the gold medal in Mental Calculation World Championship 2020 at Mind Sports Olympics, London.
Bhanu has broken four World Records and 50 Limca Book Records in multiple categories in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
In an attempt to help students overcome math fear Bhanu build a team size of over 200 members. Bhanu is the Founder and CEO of Bhanzu. Its core team consists of Prachotan DL , Co-founder & Head of Business Development; Uday Kiran, Co-Founder and Head of Operation Krishnakanth, Co-Founder and Head of Research and Development and Srinivas Jonnalagadda; Co-founder and Head of Projects).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bhanu and his startup became the official maths partner of the government of Telangana (in 2020) and taught maths to students via recorded maths videos which was streamed on Telangana government’s TV channel (T-SAT).
Students between the ages of 5 and 16 can join Bhanzu course whose price ranges between Rs 14,999 and Rs 64,999. The startup claims its courses make students 4x quicker at maths by building organic methodologies in students in significantly lesser timeframes.
Catering over 30,000 students and parents, it has served across the globe including India, and countries in the Middle East and South-East Asia. Bhanzu plans to expand in others countries this year.