Strive is an online education platform designed to teach coding to children aged 8 to 16. The Singapore-based startup has raised $1.3 million in a seed funding round led by Y Combinator, with participation from Soma Capital, Goodwater Capital, and several individual investors. Strive aims to create a learning experience that is engaging and effective by using an active learning model that allows students to take the lead. The platform’s goal is to instill in students a lifelong love of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects.

Unlike other online coding platforms for kids, Strive’s classes are hyper-personalized and visual, with instant feedback on projects that students choose to work on, such as coding games or simulations. Strive has a large pool of potential teachers, including university students studying coding, and the platform’s lessons are guided by asking students questions and guiding them through coding exercises. Strive’s founders spend six hours a day teaching to test different content and standards, and even employees who do not know how to code take coding classes to prepare them for teaching.

The challenge for Strive will be scaling its model while ensuring consistent teaching quality. To address this, Strive plans to slightly increase the number of students per class, up to one-on-four, and create a training process and infrastructure for its teachers. Strive’s current customer acquisition strategy is based on word-of-mouth referrals from satisfied students and parents. Part of the funding will be used to develop its code editor and add personalized curriculum content that caters to students’ interests.

According to Strive’s co-founder, Tamir Shklaz, teaching coding is important but not the most critical outcome. He believes that the most important outcome is to instill in students confidence and a joy of learning, which can help them develop fluency in languages and problem-solving skills. Ultimately, Strive’s goal is to equip children with adaptable skills that will prepare them to thrive in the 21st century.