[Funding alert] InterviewBit raises $20M in Series A led by Sequoia India and Tiger Global

Bengaluru-based InterviewBit, a Surge 01 startup, has raised $20 million in a Series A financing round led by Sequoia India and Tiger Global.

The company recently launched Scaler Academy, an online computer science programme for college graduates and young professional software engineers.

InterviewBit will use the funding to scale up enrolment and launch in new markets. It will also invest in curriculum and the live teaching product to enhance the student-teacher experience. 

Anshuman Singh, Co-Founder, InterviewBit, said, 

“A lot of young engineers don’t always have access and exposure to relevant technical skills or recruitment processes of global companies. Our mission is to bridge that gap and help them grow in their careers. We are very pleased to be able to help young engineers expand their knowledge and coding skills, and enable them to get top-tier software engineers jobs at the best global tech companies.”

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The company said Scaler Academy’s six-month online programme was massively over-subscribed, receiving over 200,000 applications since its launch in April 2019. As many as 2,000 students are currently enrolled in the programme. From those who have already graduated, several hundred software engineers have been placed at top tech companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Samsung.

“With in 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 Abhimanyu Saxena, Co-Founder, InterviewBit. 

According to InterviewBit, more than four million students get enrolled in engineering colleges in the country in a given year. Out of this, only 3.4 percent of engineers are considered employable for software engineering product roles and between one to five percent are deemed employable in AI, mobile app development (android and iOS), and web development.

Scaler Academy is providing a platform to software engineers, connecting them with industry leaders who can help them bridge the gap between their theoretical knowledge base and industry-specific skills.

“There is a huge global scarcity of high-quality software talent, and we have experienced it firsthand across the portfolio. As a result, we were very excited about Anshuman and Abhimanyu’s vision to build an advanced online computer science programme," said Shailendra Singh, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital (India) Singapore. 

“We are excited to invest in and partner with Interviewbit. We believe the company helps students learn skills that can enable them to achieve greater professional success," said Scott Shleifer, Partner at Tiger Global.

Founded in 2015 by Abhimanyu Saxena and Anshuman Singh, InterviewBit is an online platform that teaches students and young professionals the skills needed for technology jobs, mentors them to crack recruitment processes, and provides referrals to the best opportunities in the software industry across the globe.

Today, InterviewBit has more than a million registered software developers with over 300,000 monthly active users. Over 600 global companies work with InterviewBit for their hiring requirements, including Google, Uber, Amazon, Facebook, Flipkart, NetApp, Myntra, and Dunzo, among others.

(Edited by Teja Lele Desai)

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