Edtech startup InterviewBit secures $20m from Sequoia India, others

Indian edtech startup InterviewBit has raised US$20 million in a series A round led by Sequoia India and Tiger Global, along with other investors.

InterviewBit co-founders Anshuman Singh (left) and Abhimanyu Saxena / Photo credit: InterviewBit

Founded in 2015 by Abhimanyu Saxena and Anshuman Singh, the Bengaluru-based startup offers computer science courses through live online classes. Students are mentored and taught by tech leaders and experts working with companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Netflix, among others.

The company plans to use the new funds to scale up its enrollment efforts, launch in new markets, and invest in their curriculum and live-teaching products, according to a statement.

In April last year, InterviewBit launched an advanced online computer science program for college graduates and young professionals called Scaler Academy (rebranded from InterviewBit Academy).

The first batch from the program comprises of 200 students. Since then, six more cycles of the program have been initiated, with one being conducted in the US. The startup said it received a total of over 200,000 applications in nine months after the program’s debut.

According to a recent National Employability Report for Engineers, the employability of Indian engineers continues to be as low as 20%. With that in mind, InterviewBit said it designed the Scaler Academy to effectively enhance the coding skills of professionals through a modern curriculum that exposes them to the latest technologies.

“Within a short period of time, it has made a huge impact on the capabilities of our students who spend, on average, four to five hours per day on our online and live-learning platform,” said InterviewBit co-founder Abhimanyu Saxena.

InterviewBit was one of the 17 startups that formed the first batch of Surge, Sequoia India’s startup accelerator program. Surge invested US$1.5 million in seed money in each of the participating companies.