BlueLearn Raises Pre-Seed Funds From Lightspeed Venture Partners Raised funds will be utilized for building the core team, hiring tech talent, and enhancing the product to cater to the growing need of the community

Community-driven edtech platforms BlueLearn announced on Tuesday to have raised $450,000 in a pre-Seed funding round led by Lightspeed, Titan Capital, 2am VC, and angel investors such as Rahul Mathur, Gaurav Mandlecha, and Surabhi Randev also participated in the funding round. This is in addition to the first round led by 100X.VC.

"We started building the BlueLearn community in August 2020. In our conversations with them, we realized there was a huge gap in the industry exposure and opportunities students in tier-2/3 colleges received. Through BlueLearn, we want to democratize access to knowledge and bring back the "human' element in the age of virtual learning. We are thankful to Lightspeed, Titan Capital, 100X.VC, 2am VC, and our angel investors who have shown faith in our vision. We are confident that with their support and guidance we will be able to build a valuable and iconic product for our users," said Harish Uthayakumar, co-founder, BlueLearn.

BlueLearn was founded earlier this year by Harish Uthayakumar and Shreyans Sancheti who are currently in their final year of electrical engineering at BITS Pilani.

"There is a gaping need for clutter-breaking new experiences in higher education — while the world has moved to social communities, byte-sized content, and hyper-specific skills, our education systems are still stuck in classrooms (now zoom-rooms), static curricula and rote learning of the 1900s industrial era. Lightspeed is excited to work with the imaginative, creative founding team of BlueLearn that sees this gap clearly and wants to create a big dent in this space," commented Vaibhav Agrawal, partner, Lightspeed.

The startup plans to use the raised funds to build its core team, hire new talent, and further develop its product to cater to its growing community of users.

"We at 100X.VC, are elated to see our portfolio companies growing and making an impact in the industry and the entire ecosystem. Bluelearn's concept is unconventional and that's what interested us the most. We are confident that BlueLearn will scale rapidly in the coming future," added Ninad Karpe, Partner, 100X.VC.

BlueLearn provides a platform for students to learn new skills, network with like-minded peers, and get exposure from top industry experts. The startup aims to provide access to knowledge and opportunities for individuals from across backgrounds. Today, the BlueLearn community has organically grown to 42,000 members with 20,000 MAUs from 14 countries across the globe including India, the USA, UK, Singapore, and others. With a team of 13 members spread across the country, BlueLearn is gearing up for the next phase of its growth.

The startup plans to roll out a membership model for members who need additional perks like one-on-one mentorship, access to exclusive events, projects and specific courses.