Uable, a Bengaluru-based online life skill development platform for children, has raised $3.5 million in a Pre-Series A funding round led by JAFCO Asia and Chiratae Ventures.
Existing investors 3one4 Capital also participated in the round. With the funding, Supriya Singh, Director of South Asia Investments, JAFCO Asia, has joined the board of Uable, the company said in a statement.
Founded in 2020 by Saurabh Saxena, who formerly co-founded EdTech platform Vedantu, Uable primarily targets Generation Z demographic to help them prepare for their professional future. Its platform empowers teens between 13 and 18 years of age to discover and design their own career paths in the 21st-century domains such as Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change, Space Tech, Robotics, and Gig Economy. Uable’s platform offers learners an opportunity to immerse themselves in real-world experiences, learn from their peers, and receive mentorship from global domain experts.
Speaking about the company, Saurabh Saxena, Founder and CEO, Uable, said,
"At Uable, we are challenging the status quo of education, where for decades and possibly centuries, the notion that securing the highest marks, grades and degrees alone determined one’s future and chances of success. However, we are here to change that notion and bring a paradigm shift in education. The way we are differentiated is that we are not about ‘test prep’ or ‘course prep’ but about ‘life prep’. We believe through the right guidance, mentorship, inspiration, and information, teenagers can discover that their passion can find a career path."
Uable said the new funding will help the company add more real-world domains for teenagers to explore besides building a global team and scale the product globally. The startup has launched a new-age learning platform exclusively for teenagers across the world.
Supriya Singh, Director of South Asia Investments for JAFCO Asia, commented on the investment,
"Uable is building a unique peer-to-peer learning platform for children, which will truly empower them with the right mix of skill development, creativity and self-confidence. A platform like Uable is what education in the 21st century should be.”
Karan Mohla, Partner, Chiratae Ventures Advisors, also commented,
“While EdTech-based learning has been democratized and digitized in recent years, the focus on real-world applicability and building of practical use cases and skills for children has remained largely at the periphery. Buoyed by the changes brought about in 2020, building a global-first platform while keeping in mind this ethos is at the heart of Saurabh’s vision for Uable and we’re excited about taking it from India to the world.”
Uable has so far raised a total of $4.5 million since its inception. It raised its last seed funding round led by 3one4 Capital in July last year. The company is backed by JAFCO Asia, Chiratae Ventures, 3one4 Capital, Global Founders Capital, and a clutch of angel investors, including Pine Labs’ Amrish Rau, Jupiter's Jitendra Gupta (Ex-Pay U), Inflection Point Ventures, Angel List, Better Capital, Patni Wealth Advisors amongst others.
