Upskilling startup AlmaBetter has secured $2.7 million in funding. The company will use the money to expand its offerings to serve college students, along with bolstering the existing offerings for graduates and working professionals.
Upskilling platform AlmaBetter has raised $2.7 million in seed funding from Kalaari Capital, 15+ angel investors, and the founders of marquee technology companies such as Vidit Aatrey (CEO, Meesho), Sanjeev Kumar (CTO, Meesho), Rajesh Yabaji (CEO, Blackbuck), Varun Alagh (CEO, MamaEarth), and Rahul Dalmia (early backer in Polygon Technology).
With this funding, AlmaBetter wants to extend its programs to cater to college students, as well as boost existing offers for graduates and working professionals. It also plans to develop job-guaranteed courses in product engineering, UI/UX, and other high-growth sectors. In 2020, the platform was founded by IIT Kharagpur and IIT Delhi alumni Shivam Dutta, Vikash Srivastava, Ravi Kumar Gupta, Arshyan Ahsan, and Alok Anand to assist learners establish their careers in high-growth sectors including as data science, software development, and blockchain.
With over 16,000 students currently registered, the company hopes to upskill 60,000 students by the end of March 2023.
India generates 1.5 million engineers each year, yet more than 80% of them are unemployed. STEM graduates have a far worse condition, with only a 5-7% placement rate. On the other hand, the sector is struggling to acquire tech talent as new-age tech employment rise at a startling 25% CAGR. This obviously demonstrates our existing system’s inefficiency in providing industry-relevant education.
“We are laser-focused on resolving this by delivering an inexpensive yet result-oriented digital upskilling platform for Indian youth,” said Shivam Dutta, CEO and co-founder of AlmaBetter.
As recruiting partners, AlmaBetter has partnered with 500+ MNCs and high-growth startups around the country, assisting students in obtaining employment in the most sought-after fields in the digital space.
Partner at Kalaari Capital, Kiran Vasireddy, noted, “India is blessed with enormous young potential, but a lack of industry-relevant education is creating severe dangers to their employment. This necessitates the development of creative and cost-effective upskilling systems capable of delivering high-quality learning results at scale. AlmaBetter is doing just that, and we are thrilled to join them in their effort to tackle this long-standing issue.”
