Bangladeshi edtech startup Interactive Cares has been awarded a $100,000 grant from Open Campus Accelerator, a prestigious accelerator program focused on innovative educational technology companies. Interactive Cares was part of cohort four of the highly competitive accelerator program.
The non-dilutive grant funding will allow Interactive Cares to further develop its artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain-powered solutions and programs for employability training and career upskilling.
Open Campus Accelerator runs a 6-week virtual accelerator designed to provide funding, mentorship, resources, and networking opportunities to help edtech startups grow and scale.
During the 6-week program, startups undergo an intensive immersion into the technologies reshaping education and employment. Through expert-led workshops, peer collaboration, and coaching from industry mentors, the startups look to refine their product roadmap and growth strategies. Particular emphasis is placed on upskilling for the metaverse, decentralized finance (DeFi), and other frontier domains and emerging technologies. The curriculum is designed to be hands-on and interactive, allowing participants to experiment and rapidly iterate their solutions.
Upon culmination of the accelerator, startups are given an opportunity to pitch their companies at OC's demo day. A successful showing opens doors for non-dilutive funding and other opportunities for startups.
According to Pitchbook data, Open Accelerator has so far backed 40 startups from across markets and verticals.
For the uninitiated, Interactive Cares is a Dhaka-based edtech startup operating in the skills development, test preparation, and competitive education space. The company offers online courses across career paths like web development and digital marketing, as well as higher education test prep for exams like the GRE and IELTS.
Founded in 2020, Interactive Cares has over 300,000 registered learners on its platform to date. What makes the startup unique is its focus on creating employability by partnering with companies across sectors to facilitate placements for students from certain courses. The company has so far raised some $700,000 in investments from notable investors such as Accelerating Asia, Flagship Ventures, SuperCharger Ventures, and others.
Along with its online course offerings, Interactive Cares has been developing artificial intelligence and blockchain technology solutions for the edtech market, exploring how distributed ledgers can enhance credentialing and skills authentication, while AI holds promise for personalizing educational content and curricula. The $100,000 grant from OC will allow the company to further build out these emerging tech capabilities.
"We are honored to be selected for the OC accelerator and receive this $100,000 grant," said Rare Al Samir, co-founder and CEO of Interactive Cares. "It provides crucial investment, mentorship and global connections as we work to realize our vision of using AI and blockchain to create accredited, verifiable and personalized workforce development solutions and programs."
