The upskilling platform AlmaBetter has secured a seed round of $2.7 million from Kalaari Capital, 15+ angel investors, and founders of notable technology firms, including Vidit Aatrey, CEO of Meesho, Sanjeev Kumar, CTO of Meesho, Rajesh Yabaji, CEO of Blackbuck, Varun Alagh, CEO of MamaEarth, and Rahul Dalmia, an early backer of Polygon Technology.
According to AlmaBetter, the company will increase its current programmes for graduates and working professionals as well as broaden them to include college students. It also wants to introduce job-guaranteed courses in product engineering, UI/UX, and other high-growth fields, as per reported by The Economic Times.
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“Every year, India produces 1.5 million engineers but more than 80% are unemployable. The situation is far worse for STEM graduates with a meagre 5-7% placement rate. On the other hand, the industry struggles to find tech talent as new-age tech jobs continue to grow at a staggering CAGR of 25%. This clearly reflects the inefficiency of our current system in delivering industry-relevant education. We are laser-focused on solving this by providing an affordable yet outcome-oriented tech upskilling platform for the Indian youth," said Shivam Dutta, CEO and co-founder, AlmaBetter.
The platform, which was established in 2020 by alumni of IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur, Shivam Dutta, Vikash Srivastava, Ravi Kumar Gupta, Arshyan Ahsan, and Alok Anand, offers flagship programmes to assist students in beginning their careers in high-growth industries like data science, software development, and blockchain.
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“India is blessed with immense youth potential, but the lack of industry-relevant education is posing serious threats to their employability. This calls for innovative and affordable upskilling platforms which deliver quality learning outcomes at scale. AlmaBetter is doing just that, and we are excited to partner with them in their mission to solve this long-standing problem," said Kiran Vasireddy, partner at Kalaari Capital.
AlmaBetter has partnered with 500+ MNCs and fast-growing startups nationwide as hiring partners, assisting students in finding employment in the most sought-after fields in the tech industry, as per reported by The Economic Times.
About AlmaBetter
AlmaBetter is developing a platform that combines the greatest elements of MOOCs, vocational schools, apprenticeships, and bootcamps to educate and equip students for employment in the modern world. Students who study with AlmaBetter don't have to be concerned about paying tuition or accruing student loan debt. Instead, students start making little instalments each month after graduation.