Kadama, the largest educational social media brand and popular Gen-Z learning app raised a $1.7 million seed round led by Grishin Robotics after impacting millions of students worldwide and reaching a peak App Store ranking of #2 under education. Kadama is breaking the stigma Gen-Z has toward learning. Students can earn rewards after learning with their friends, get instant homework and exam help, attend viral events, and engage with the massive 2 million student community Kadama has built across TikTok, Instagram, and their mobile app.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Kadama’s Gen-Z founders Amin Shaykho, an ex-Apple Software Engineer, Marwan El-Rukby, an ex-Getty Images Analyst, and Dani Shaykho of the University of Washington Computer Science knew that students were mostly engaged in online learning and social media. Realizing that students were seeking fun ways to learn, Kadama started building a platform immersed with interactive experiences and communities that would appeal to the dynamic interests of Gen-Z.
During the pandemic, social media consumption by students drastically increased. “I saw many videos go viral and decided to give it a shot. I posted a video and within a few hours, it went viral. I posted another video. It went viral. It became clear that if we create a cool, exciting, and relatable brand around learning, we can become the largest educational social media presence ever,” said Amin Shaykho, CEO of Kadama.
Kadama’s rapid initial success has attracted many investors, who mentioned that they were “long awaiting a disruptive Gen-Z go-to-market strategy through social media.” Since launching 7 months ago, Kadama has accumulated over half a billion views on TikTok and Instagram. Grishin Robotics led Kadama’s $1.7 million seed round to continue propelling Kadama’s viral marketing and rapid product growth through gamification, short-form content, and more.
“We’re excited to partner with Amin, Marwan, and Dani. This past year has made it clear that existing models of education are outdated. Kadama exists where Gen-Z students already spend their time: on their phones, on TikTok, and social media. Students are empowered to use Kadama when and where they feel they need it, instead of being forced to rely on teacher- or parent-driven tutoring classes,” said Dmitry Grishin, founder and managing partner of Grishin Robotics, who is joining Kadama’s board.
Kadama engages students beyond the learning environment through viral events such as weekly trivia. These events are part of Kadama’s product vision to create experiences that break the stigma that learning is boring.
“As a team of students and recent college graduates, we are shocked to see the level of virality and relatability our brand has towards millions of students. We have never seen people our age talk about learning apps outside of the classroom,” Shaykho says.
Edited by Maryssa Gordon, Senior Editor, Price of Business Digital Network
