- Fundraise: Rocket Academy raises $1.1m in pre-seed funding from consortium of
business angels
- Demand: Over the past 3 months, demand for their Coding Basics course has
increased 10x
- Growth: Rocket Academy is actively hiring to double its headcount by end 2021 to
address global talent shortage of developers, expected to reach 85.2m in
2030
- Impact: 100% of students who graduate from Rocket Academy bootcamp course secure
jobs
SINGAPORE - News
Direct - 31 August 2021 - Rocket Academy, a Singapore-based start-up providing online coding
courses, today announced it has raised $1.1 million in pre-seed funding. The
investment comes from a consortium of 50 marquee tech investors and venture
capitalists including entrepreneurs Darius Cheung from 99.co, Marcus Tan from
Carousell and Stanley Tang from DoorDash, former Singapore Ambassador to the UN
Kishore Mahbubani, SEA tech leaders' investment network XA Network, and VC firms
Taurus Ventures and Hustle Fund. Rocket Academy will use this funding to grow
the company into the leading coding school in Southeast Asia helping to address
the current industry-wide shortage in software engineers.
Rocket
Academy has developed two courses to date: Coding
Basics, an introductory
course for beginners to learn the basics of coding; and Software Engineering Bootcamp (SEB), which prepares students for a career in software engineering. All
course material is pre-recorded for students to review and complete at their
own pace. Rocket Academy holds regular live classes over Zoom for students to
clarify concepts with instructors, apply learning in pair exercises and network
with classmates. Classes are online allowing greater flexibility and
efficiency, and the course platform allows high levels of engagement between
students and teachers.
Kai Yuan
Neo, Founder and CEO at Rocket Academy commented: "There is a mounting global talent shortage of developers
around the world. As of December 2020 this amounted to 40 million developers
worldwide. By 2030, that is expected to reach 85.2 million. Not only this but
companies worldwide risk losing $8.4 trillion in revenue because of the lack of
skilled talent. Rocket Academy exists to solve this equation and we are on a
mission to scale further and faster."
In
addition to teaching, Rocket Academy helps its SEB graduates find their dream
software engineering jobs through resume development, portfolio development and
interview preparation. Rocket Academy leverages its network of companies
sourcing for software engineers, makes referrals and helps set up job
interviews for SEB graduates. To date, Rocket Academy has a 100% success rate
in placing SEB graduates in software engineering jobs within companies and
organisations such as 99.co, Xfers, Glints, GovTech, and GoTrade.
"Getting
our students good jobs is our top priority. The better jobs our students get,
the stronger our alumni network becomes, which enables us to find better jobs
for future students," said Kai Yuan Neo. "Over the past months the
demand for our SEB graduates from businesses has doubled. So far we have
successfully placed all SEB graduates. We are so confident that our SEB
graduates will find coding jobs that we will refund their fees if they still
cannot find a job 6 months after graduation."
Although
Rocket Academy is a small start-up, it has lofty ambitions – to train and
supply the best software engineers in the region. Rocket Academy will invest
its pre-seed funding in two key areas. First, further developing its flagship
products, Coding Basics and Software Engineering Bootcamp courses. This
involves strengthening course curriculum and improving the learning platform to
boost the student experience. Second, expanding to new markets, specifically
Hong Kong and Australia in the short term, other Southeast Asian markets in the
medium term, and then globally in the long term.
To
succeed, Rocket Academy will need the best software engineering and education
talents to craft its student experience. The company prides itself on a work
environment with highest-calibre peers, transparent company progress,
decentralised decision making, and flexible work arrangements. Rocket Academy
is actively hiring and targets to double its headcount by end 2021.
"Over
the past 3 months we have seen a 10-fold increase in demand for our Coding
Basics course and a 4-fold increase in demand for our SEB course. We are
regularly in touch with businesses to understand technical skills that software
engineers need. This allows us to refine our curriculum to make it relevant and
appropriate for students looking for rewarding software engineering careers,"
added Kai Yuan Neo.
"Rocket
Academy is exactly what Singapore needs now. To get good middle-class jobs,
young Singaporeans need to be globally competitive in the digital space. Rocket
Academy provides these critical skills. This initiative couldn't be more
timely!" said Kishore Mahbubani, Former Singapore Ambassador to the UN and
angel investor in Rocket Academy's pre-seed round.
Annex 1 – Business
angels participating in Rocket Academy's pre-seed round
The following are notable business angels who participated
in Rocket Academy's pre-seed round. Some chose not to be listed.
1)
XA Network's members from global and regional
tech companies, such as Google, Facebook, Grab, Ruangguru, StashAway, 99.co,
Affinidi and DataRobot
2)
Frank Chen, Founding Engineer, Coursera
3)
Jefferson Chen, Co-Founder, Group Chairman and
CEO, Advance Intelligence Group
4)
Vicki Cheung, Founding Engineer, Duolingo,
OpenAI
5)
Clarence Chio, Co-Founder & CTO, Unit21
6)
Tiger Fang, Co-Founder & CEO, Kargo
7)
Eric Feldman, Co-Founder, Bolt
8)
Veni Johanna, Head of Frameworks Engineering,
Asana
9) Joel Kek, Software
Engineer, GovTech
10) Shiyan Koh, Managing Partner, Hustle Fund
11) Hendra Kwik, Co-Founder & CEO, Payfazz;
General Partner SEA, Magic Fund
12) Timothy Lee, Former Sequoia Partner
13) Junxu Lye, Chief Product Officer & Partner,
Endowus
14) Kishore Mahbubani, Former Singapore Ambassador
to the UN
15) Alex Ng, Sino Group
16) Daniel Ong, CTO, Care
17) Jonathan Sim, General Manager Singapore,
Flexport
18) Hester Spiegel-van den Steenhoven, Former Head
of Germany, 42 School
19) John Tan, Founder & CEO, Doyobi and Saturday
Kids
20) Marcus Tan, Co-Founder, Carousell
21) Stanley Tang, Co-Founder & Chief Product
Officer, DoorDash
22) Norman Wanto, Co-Founder & CTO, GoTrade
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