Alma Better raises $2.7 million in seed funding round

AlmaBetter, a business in edtech upskilling, raises $2.7 million in seed funding led by Kalaari Capital and more than 15 angel investors and tech company founders.

Along with other angel investors, the funding round included Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Kumar from Meesho, Rajesh Yabaji from Blackbuck, Varun Alagh from Mamaearth, and Rahul Dalmia.

The company was founded in 2020 by IIT Kharagpur and IIT Delhi graduates Shivam Dutta, Vikash Srivastava, Ravi Kumar Gupta, Arshyan Ahsan, and Alok Anand.

The startup offers upskilling courses in various fields to college students and working professionals, including blockchain, software development, and data science.

It's interesting to note that AlmaBetter claimed to provide pay-after-placement offers to students enrolled in its courses.

"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," Kiran Vasireddy, partner at Kalaari Capital, says to INC 42.

According to AlmaBetter, the company has so far signed up over 16K students. By March 2023, it also plans to upskill 60K working adults and college students.

The firm claims to have worked with more than 500 MNCs in addition to startups in India and to have more than 300,000 users enrolled on its platform.

"We at AlmaBetter, are laser-focused on solving this by providing a tech upskilling platform for the Indian youth. "Leveraging AI for personalised learning experiences and minimising the operational footprint has enabled us to provide quality education and job outcomes," Shivam Dutta, CEO and co-founder of AlmaBetter, told INC 42.

The venture intends to increase its product offerings for college students and improve those already available to working professionals and college grads. It also plans to offer courses in product engineering, UI/UX, and related sectors that are aimed at obtaining students' jobs.