[Funding alert] Edtech startup Kalam Labs raises pre-seed from Y Combinator, Lightspeed, and FirstCheque

Kalam Labs, the live game streaming startup that focuses on K-12 Learning with a multiplayer ecosystem, on Monday announced it raised a pre-seed round from Y Combinator, Lightspeed, and FirstCheque.

With this capital, the edtech startup plans to accelerate its product roadmap to build a “Metaverse for Science,” starting with fun and immersive virtual missions for 6-14-year-old kids to learn their favourite STEM topics by joining and playing various science-led missions.

Ahmad Faraaz, Co-founder of Kalam Labs, said, “The 2020s children have been born directly into the age of iPhones, Netflix, and Google. It is impractical to make them sit in front of a blackboard or a Zoom Class expecting them to remember irrelevant information."

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He added, "While our growth has been unexpected and amazing, we are very aware just how tough it is to meet the high standards our very young users have from us on a daily basis. What motivates us is their passion and engagement on our platform. Education is undergoing a generational change, and we plan to be at the forefront of building products that will accelerate this shift.”

Kalam Labs claims to be growing its user base by 50 percent weekly (organically) and via referrals within student communities. The platform has high-paced-in-game chats and engaging game-play. Most children spend up to three hours per week, returning thrice weekly.

Launched in June 2021, 21-year-old founders Faraaz, Sashakt, and Harshit built the start while they were still in college.

The company said known games such as Minecraft (150 million MAUs) and Roblox (200 million MAUs) are already seeing “education economies” organically emerging within the games. Teachers are designing and conducting live sessions inside these multiplayer games to help kids learn coding and science.

“At Lightspeed, we have invested in global scale companies in both education (Byju’s) and gaming (Epic Games). Having seen hundreds of pitches in education over the years, we thought the approach Kalam Labs had for K-12 was one of the most interesting and fresh. Learning through play is as old as humanity itself — a behaviour so primal and genetic that we even see it in animals. What Kalam Labs is building is just a digital version of how humans have always learned new skills. We are excited to back the Kalam team as they take on this ambitious challenge.” said Hemant Mohapatra, Partner at Lightspeed.