SUMMARY
The social learning startup offers classes for seniors by seniors and a community platform for users to interact with each other.
It currently hosts over 500 video classes and has over $4 Mn users from more than 160 countries.
The global edtech and smart classroom sector’s market size is projected to grow from $85.8 Bn in 2020 to $181.3 Bn by 2025 at a CAGR of 16.1%.
Older adults upskilling startup GetSetUp has raised $10 Mn in a seed-extension funding from Cowboy Ventures and LightShed Ventures. The funding comes in the form of “simple agreement for future equity” (SAFE) contracts where the investor is given rights to receive equity of the startup in the case of certain triggering events like future rounds of funding or sale of the company.
The startup had earlier raised an $11 Mn in the same seed round last October led by Rethink Education with participation from Yahoo cofounder Jerry Yang’s AME Cloud Ventures.
Founded in 2020 by Neil Dsouza, Lawrence Kosick and Deval Delivala, older-adult social learning platform GetSetUp offers skill classes to adults over the age of 55 through their website. It has a subscription-based revenue model where users are charged INR 300 monthly or INR 3,000 annually to access all the courses available on the platform. These range from learning how to grow microgreens to pilates and cooking.
“The media and tech world has largely ignored older adults, with their obsession around millennials and GenZ. GetSetUp has created a first-of-its-kind media and content platform to improve the health, wellness, and knowledge of the over 50 population globally,” said Rich Greenfield of LightShed Ventures.
The startup currently has over 4 Mn users from over 160 countries on its platform accessing more than 500 live interactive classes for seniors taught by seniors. The startup has also penned an agreement with Tivity Health which will allow the US-based digital healthcare company’s members access GetSetUp for free.
According to Aileen Lee, founder and managing partner of Cowboy Ventures, she tested the product on her 80-year-old mother before investing in the venture. “A day later, my mother had become infatuated with courses on exercising, speaking Mandarin and making Indian food. She made friends, including the teacher in the food class, who lives in India, and a fellow participant who was learning skills from a hospital bed,” said Lee.
Apart from the classes and programs available on the platform, it also serves as a community medium for users to interact with and learn from each other. The startup will utilise the fresh infusion of capital towards growing the team to offer more classes in a variety of disciplines.
According to estimates, the global edtech and smart classroom sector’s market size is projected to grow from $85.8 Bn in 2020 to $181.3 Bn by 2025 at a CAGR of 16.1%. Increasing penetration of mobile devices and growing demand for edtech solutions due to the pandemic will contribute to this growth.
