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Local education technology startup ‘10 Minute School’ has recently raised $2.0 million of seed funding from Sequoia Capital, India.
With the fund, the startup plans to invest in product, technology, and talent acquisition with the aim to promote digital learning further in the country, a statement said on Sunday.
Co-founded by Ayman Sadiq and Abdullah Abyad Raied in 2015, 10 Minute School has been working to democratise education for all in Bangladesh, ensure access to better education beyond geographical limitation and socio-economic barriers.
The first mobile online learning platform bridges the gap between aspiration and opportunities by offering up affordable, accessible and highly relevant educational contents to 25 million school and college students, university admission test candidates, job-seekers, and people looking for specialised skills training.
The year 2021 marked a significant year of growth for 10 Minute School, with more than 9 million new learners joining the platforms, 8.0 million learning hours delivered, and another 17,000+ new videos added to its learning ecosystem, the statement said.
"We have experienced an unprecedented 12 times business growth in our platform in 2021 during the pandemic, and a strong validation from our users who experienced our learning contents,” said Ayman Sadiq, Founder and CEO of the startup.
“Sequoia Capital India’s Surge programme joining us as our first investor is a very humbling experience for the team, and it further validates our vision for democratising access to high quality education for all in Bangladesh,” he said.
The pandemic has given a boost to the online education in Bangladesh, with offline institutions and exams being put on hold since early 2020, the statement said adding that students could continue learning despite the lockdown, the company launched some of its first premium courses and books during this time.
It also said in the first quarter of 2022, the company plans to launch live coaching classes for students from classes 5-12, test paper courses for HSC and SSC examinees, complete admission and BCS programmes, a whole series of interactive academic books for classes 3-12 and 25 more sought-after upskilling courses.
This investment makes 10 Minute School (www.10minuteschool.com) the first EdTech company in Bangladesh to secure funding from a scheme named Surge, which is a rapid-scale up program launched by the Sequoia Capital, India.