Amsterdam-based JetLearn, an e-learning platform that helps children learn new-age technology skills, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired SchoolHacks, a Silicon Valley-based company that specialises in organising hackathons specifically designed for school-aged students.
The announcement comes a few days after JetLearn completed the world’s largest Web3 Hackathon & Festival for students aged 6 to 16 in partnership with SchoolHacks.
The Dutch company claims that participants from more than 46 countries attended with judges and speakers from top tech companies and Web3 pioneers.
SchoolHack: What you need to know
Founded in 2017 by Yash Narayan, now a freshman at Stanford University, SchoolHacks has grown in popularity in the past five years with participation from thousands of children from more than 40 countries.
As a part of the acquisition, Narayan will join JetLearn as a strategic advisor to help expand operations and the global reach of SchoolHacks.
“I started SchoolHacks after my transformational experience participating in hackathons at an early age. At the time, I was usually the only student attending these events, targeting experienced adult programmers,” says Narayan. “My mission behind SchoolHacks was to create a fun and supportive community for students and inspire them to use their entrepreneurial creativity to bring new technology solutions to solve pressing problems. I am glad this mission will be carried forward by JetLearn for an even bigger global impact.”
JetLearn: What you need to know
Founded by Abhishek Bahl in 2021, JetLearn connects children between 6 and 16 to the top 1 per cent of educators experienced in teaching Web 3.0, AI, and robotics.
Every child has a personalised learning pathway powered by the company’s AI technology and based on the learner’s starting level, pace of learning, and interests.
The Dutch company powers live 1:1 online lessons and fun-learning workshops, and trains children for competitive hackathons via its world-leading curriculum and inspirational teachers.
Upon signing up for a monthly subscription, users can access educators for online live learning, supplemented with assignments and self-learning projects.
Secondary school students closer to college age can also connect to mentors from top Silicon Valley companies.
“Talent is distributed equally, but opportunity is not. In the coming decade, every company will be a tech company, and every job will be a tech one. Web3, robotics, and AI are the skills that will be essential for the builders of tomorrow,” said Abhishek Bahl, founder and CEO of JetLearn. “SchoolHacks’ unique engagement and creative collaboration model accelerates the mission of JetLearn to empower kids to be builders of the tech-driven future.”
Kirthiga Reddy, the first female investing partner of the SoftBank Vision Fund and co-founder and CEO of Web3 startup Virtualness, delivered a keynote at the event along with SchoolHacks founder Narayan.
She says, “I’ve experienced time and again that the next-gen provides an important window into the widespread trends of tomorrow. I experienced the power of next-gen once again through SchoolHacks.”