Assistive Tech startup Thinkerbell Labs raises Rs 1.3 crore from IAN

Manufacturer of literacy devices for the visually impaired, Thinkerbell Labs has received Rs 1.3 Crores from Indian Angel Network and well-known business tycoon Anand Mahindra. The angel round was led by Rajesh Navaneetham and Manjunath Nayak while Mahindra invested in the company in his personal capacity.

The Bengaluru-based startup aims at eliminating the problem of low literacy among visually impaired people all over the world. The team was earlier working under the name Project Mudra and recently made the switch to Thinkerbell Labs.

Founded by four BITS Pilani, Goa alumni - Sanskriti Dawle, Aman Srivastava, Dilip Ramesh and Saif Shaikh - Thinkerbell Labs addresses the pain point of low braille literacy among the visually impaired by helping them learn how to read, write and type in braille.

The company’s flagship product Annie can be used directly by the children and young people with visual impairment to self-learn braille and be monitored by the teachers or parents.

Speaking about investment, Sanskriti, Co-Founder, Thinkerbell Labs said, “We are incredibly privileged to be invested in by such an amazing group of investors. We believe that their network and skills would be a significant addition to our team and would certainly help us in our quest to build inclusive economic growth by dramatically increasing the literacy rate of Braille world over."

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 important for them to learn Braille. Braille literacy rates in India is extremely low with only one per cent of visually impaired people understand Braille. Thinkerbell aims to eradicate barriers involved in learning Braille.