Exclusive: MS Dhoni Joins Edtech Startup SpeakX’s Cap Table

AI-based edtech startup SpeakX has onboarded cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a strategic investor and brand ambassador, founder Arpit Mittal told Inc42. The financial terms of the deal haven’t been disclosed yet.

The English tutoring startup said Dhoni’s investment is part of a larger funding round that it plans to raise next year. CEO Mittal said that Dhoni resonated strongly with the mission of SpeakX, understanding the merits of the business before backing it.

To note, SpeakX, which was erstwhile known as Yellow Class, is currently focusing on expanding its presence across India by doubling down on regional-language offerings. Moving from its earlier Hindi-first approach, the startup now caters to users across Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Marathi, and further plans to deepen its presence across the aforementioned language markets. 

According to Mittal, the platform is currently seeing stronger traction in South India.

In its initial phase, SpeakX’s audience was largely restricted to the Hindi-speaking belt, with these users making up 80% of its total audience. Mittal claims that users speaking regional languages now account for half of its user base.

Founded in 2020 by Mittal, the startup initially offered free extracurricular and co-curricular classes in over 40 categories like art, craft, dance, yoga, general knowledge, among others. 

Yellow Class officially pivoted and rebranded as SpeakX in November 2023, focusing on English-speaking skills for children in India and overseas. GenAI helped in the pivot, with Mittal telling Inc42 earlier this year that SpeakX’s bid to help learners practice everyday conversations with an AI tutor has emerged as its key mission.

“There is no human touchpoint on the platform. The only exception is customer support, where users are connected to a person in specific cases when the product is unable to resolve their issue,” Mittal added.

The startup, which follows a freemium model, has around 2 Lakh active paid subscribers on its platform. Its paid user retention stands at around 30% on a monthly basis, Mittal told Inc42. SpeakX’s subscription is priced at ₹299 per month. 

On the financial front, Mittal claims that the startup became EBITDA profitable in FY26. While the company’s top line touched the ₹45 Cr mark in the fiscal, the CEO is projecting revenue of ₹70-80 Cr in FY27.

To add more streams of revenue, the startup is now set to launch a B2B English-learning product in the coming months. The product will initially target sectors including hospitality, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.

Prior to this round, SpeakX raised $16 Mn in its pre-Series B funding round led by WestBridge Capital last year. Backed by Elevation Capital, Goodwater Capital, Tidal Capital, Ronnie Screwvala, among others, SpeakX has raised over $20 Mn till date.

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