Codeyoung, a start-up that provides live online coding classes to K12 students, has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed round of funding led by US-based VC firm Guild Capital.
Founded by IIT- Delhi alumni Shailendra Dhakad and Rupika Taneja, Codeyoung is on a mission to develop cognitive skills and creative thinking among children through coding. The ed-tech startup offers coding courses to K12 students between 5-16 years of age. It is in line with India’s new education policy. The amendment prescribes courses in programming and web development for students in class 6 and above. Exposing students to coding at the K-12 level is a way of preparing them to adapt to the future. Coding helps instil a habit of curiosity in their impressionable minds; thus pushing students to question, observe, analyse and record everything around them. Fanning the curiosity of young, inquisitive minds is the cornerstone of Codeyoung’s mission, and something the platform aims to achieve in its community.
Rupika Taneja, Co-founder of Codeyoung, said “ Our main focus has been to develop the most hands-on curriculum with very distinct learning goals. We started our journey by making programs in Coding as a way to impart necessary skills to school kids in an enjoyable and engaging way. Now we have more than 15000+ kids globally enrolled in our various programs. The funding will help us in reaching out to more students and launching more programs aligned with our vision.”
The focus on developing creativity and original thinking rather than just programming skills has encouraged kids to express their interests in liberal arts & pure sciences through coding. Codeyoung’s curriculum extends beyond the drag & drop environment & equips kids with skills to create industry-standard programs on popular languages like Python and Java. A hallmark of the program is the collaborative approach to learning as a team, a crucial skill required by the next generation of entrepreneurs & technologists.
Speaking on the investment, Apoorv Gautam, Guild India Head and COO says “We at Guild Capital were quite inspired by the vision of the founders to democratise coding education globally. We see it as a critical enabler among K12 students to become future ready in today’s world. We believe coding will be as important as any other language skill in the coming days and introducing such courses at an early age will be crucial. We are proud to partner with the Codeyoung team and help them achieve their vision.”
According to Shailendra Dhakad, Co-founder of Codeyoung, “ We believe that the time is ripe for Codeyoung's products & services. We have seen that people are finding value in introducing their kids to coding at an early age and seeing a lot of positive impact on a kid's creativity and confidence. Being true to our values, we plan to launch several coding courses and engagement initiatives that will address the learning gaps , thus contributing towards the child's overall educational well-being. The trust shown by investors has further fueled our desire to make coding more fun and contextual for school kids across the world.”
The raised funds will be used to scale up in International Markets as well as strengthen Academics Research, Technology and Product teams.
