BITS Pilani graduates-founded BlueLearn shut down after raising $4 million

BITS Pilani graduates-founded BlueLearn is shutting down after raising $4 million in funding from investors, including 100X, Titan Capital, Elevation, and Lightspeed, as well as angels. 

Co-founder Harish Uthayakumar announced the "hard" decision in a LinkedIn post and said the startup will return 70% of the capital to investors.

Reflecting on the initial journey, Uthayakumar mentioned that he, along with co-founder Shreyans Sancheti, started BlueLearn in their third year of college as a Telegram group, which later became what he claims to be India's largest student community, with over 250,000 members.

"Our mission was to create an online university that leveled the playing field and allowed students studying in tier-2 and tier-3 colleges to access opportunities to learn, network, earn, and get exposure similar to students at BITS or IIT," Uthayakumar wrote.

He also claimed that BlueLearn has helped thousands of students get internships and jobs, start their own startups, find co-founders, and make friends on the Internet.

"However, we realized that building a venture-scale business with BlueLearn was tough. We had been very conservative with capital, allowing us to return 70% of the capital we raised back to investors," he added.

"I'd encourage more people to start up and build in India, for India and for the world. We need more people to take risks and try out ideas that seem absurd. It's okay if you fail. I'm excited to share that a few of my teammates at BlueLearn have gone on to found their own startups," Uthayakumar concluded.

In August 2021, BlueLearn raised its first funding round of $450,000 from investors, including US-based Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from 100X.VC, Titan Capital, and 2am VC.

Following in February 2023, the startup again raised $3.5 million in a seed funding round led by Elevation Capital and Lightspeed.