We are an Oyo for pre-schools & empower women running them

If you think the future is one where most children will be glued to one digital screen or the other, maybe you should think again. The success that Arunprasad Durairaj, Vijay Babu Gandhi and Shreenidhi Srirangam have had with their Chennai-based venture Flinto Learning Solutions, which creates physical activity based material for children between 2 and 12 years, suggests a different picture. Flinto, launched in 2013, has over 5 lakh customers across eight countries today. Durairaj, who is also CEO, spoke to STOI.

How did the idea to start a business around early learning come to you?

Vijay, Shreenidhi and I have been friends for 14 years. We had highflying IT jobs in the US, but we found it difficult to spend quality time with kids. This made the kids end up spending lots of time in front of the TV and mobile phones. Vijay suggested that if there was someone who could professionally curate toys, activities, and books, it would be of huge benefit for parents and could have a lasting impact on their children’s lives. As there were no readymade options back then, we decided to create something that would engage children.


From a startup to an industry leader in your segment, you have come a long way.

Flinto has evolved into a full-stack early learning and development company. It includes both home and pre-schools for us today. We are so deeply rooted in this mission that we recently launched an early learning research centre that focuses on all things related to child development, right from parenting to nutrition. A team of psychologists, content writers, product design people, and others constantly research on the next best thing.

Tell us about Flinto’s current offerings.

We have two major products. Flinto-Box is a monthly subscription box that is packed with educational activities that cater to 16 developmental areas of a child. FlintoClass is an asset-light, plug and play package for pre-school owners to deliver world-class education. FlintoClass also empowers other entrepreneurs, majority of whom are women, to run successful and profitable preschools with ease. It’s only been 18 months since we started Flinto-Class, and we already have over 500 schools across India, the Middle East, South East Asia, and the West. Think of it like an Oyo for preschools.

Children are getting so used to digital screens. Do you think you can fight it?

There is an increased awareness of the ill-effects of screen time. Both parent and teacher are important for a growing child. A lot of startups are trying to say that parents don’t have the time, and educators lack expertise, and so an app or tech can help compensate for them. But child psychology says your educator and parent is irreplaceable in the early years. We are empowering these people.

Are you looking at fresh initiatives?

In the kids activity boxes segment, we are market leaders. All the competition put together is probably just one-fourth the size of Flinto. Now we need to stay ahead of the game. We are using the R&D centre to refine our existing products. We are also spending time on things that matter for long-term success such as customer service levels, support and renewals management etc.

Are you profitable? What’s the revenue growth?

Revenue from FlintoBox is growing close to 100% year-on-year. Flinto-Class was launched last year, and it’s growing at a 300% annualised growth. As a company we are profitable. This year, with FlintoClass and R&D centre, our focus has been on investing for growth, but we still have 60% gross margins.

What advice do you have for budding entrepreneurs?

With so many opportunities and ideas all around, it’s important for today’s entrepreneurs to have a strong focus on what really matters to the business. It’s easy to get excited and get ahead of yourselves, so learn to say no and focus on that which relates to your core proposition. Knowing when to fight and when to fold is also critical. Don’t get too personally involved with your product. Finally, focus more on the problem itself and not the solution. It’s easy to get too engrossed in the solution and lose track of the key problem you are looking at solving.