Edutech startup Thikerbell Labs has raised $202,000 (Rs 13 million) in an angel-investment round led by led by Rajesh Navaneetham and Manjunath Nayak from Indian Angel Network (IAN).

Anand Mahindra, Chairman and Managing Director at Mahindra Group too invested in this Bengaluru-based start-up that builds literacy devices for the visually impaired.

The funds that the start-up has raised will be utilised to run pilots in the UK, setting up product, sales and content teams.

Co-founder of Thinkerbell Labs, Sanskriti Dawle said that currently, there are more than 285 million visually impaired people in the world. Given that a tactile medium is the only way in which the visually impaired can read and write, it is extremely important for them to learn Braille.

“There is a direct correlation of low Braille literacy and unemployment among the visually impaired. However, even in developed countries, braille literacy rates are extremely low. It is only 4 per cent in the UK. In the USA, only 10 per cent are literate in Braille and in India it is less than 1 per cent,” she added.

#EduTech #startup that builds literacy devices for the visually impaired; raises USD 202K. #StartupIndia https://t.co/na7wPpBZFx

— Startup India (@startupindia) July 31, 2017

“Technology has in general been about enhancing human potential. But unfortunately, not much has been done to enhance the potential of the differently-abled. Thinkerbell Labs aspires to leverage cutting edge technology to address this issue for the visually impaired. Annie – as the first product from the company is called – has the ability to dramatically improve the literacy level of the blind across the globe. Annie is also a great example of an innovative product that is Made in India, For the World,” Indian Angel Network Lead Rajesh Navaneetham said.

ThinkerBell Labs was founded in 2016 by four BITS Pilani, Goa Campus Graduates, Sanskriti Dawle, Aman Srivastava, Dilip Ramesh and Saif Shaikh.

For the record, IAN has invested about over $32 million in approximately 60 deals in the calendar years 2014, 2015 and 2016. Its portfolio spans over 120-odd companies, across 17 sectors in seven countries.