Want to raise the next Elon Musk or Lisa Su? Better start early. Agrawal’s Kira Learning teaches computer science basics to K-12 students. In 2021, she and fellow Stanford alumnus Andrea Pasinetti cofounded the online coding school, which has helped some 10,000 students and teachers learn and teach programming and AI skills. The startup recently added an AI companion, built on large language models like GPT-4, to detect mistakes in a student’s code. Palo Alto, California–based Kira Learning has raised $22.5 million in venture funding at a $75 million valuation, with more than $2.5 million in revenue so far this year. “Computer science is a pretty scary subject,” Agrawal says. “We’re thinking about how to make learning this technology more accessible, motivating and engaging for beginner learners.”
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00:02 - Jagruti, so lovely to be here with you today.
00:04 Thank you so much.
00:05 - Thank you.
00:06 - So let's start at the beginning.
00:07 Tell me about how you founded your company.
00:10 - Yeah, sure.
00:11 I took computer science for the first time
00:13 as a freshman in college,
00:14 and it was super, super difficult for me.
00:17 I always felt like I had to work
00:19 twice as hard as other people.
00:20 Many of my friends also felt the same way,
00:23 and this kind of affected our self-esteem
00:25 for years afterwards, right?
00:27 'Cause I think the way that you're taught
00:29 and your education can have a huge impact
00:31 on your sense of self-worth and how you see yourself.
00:33 And so we provide tools and curriculum
00:35 to teach computer science and AI
00:37 to middle school and high school students.
00:39 So we try to empower teachers to teach the subjects
00:42 and students to learn the subjects.
00:43 We wanna make those intro classes in particular
00:46 accessible and motivating
00:48 and something that kind of builds self-esteem.
00:50 And I truly believe these subjects
00:53 are something that anybody can learn,
00:55 and everybody should have a fundamental understanding
00:57 of how they work, 'cause it's a huge part
00:59 of how our world works.
01:00 - You're selling it to school districts, correct?
01:03 - Yeah, yeah.
01:04 Currently, our biggest partnership
01:06 is a partnership with the state of Tennessee.
01:08 We went through an RFP process with the state.
01:11 So pretty much the state chose us
01:13 as their provider for computer science education.
01:16 So they're actually going to have
01:18 a graduation requirement starting next fall,
01:21 which requires every single high school student
01:23 in the state of Tennessee
01:24 to have to take computer science to graduate,
01:27 which is like, that's huge.
01:28 - How many states and schools are you in right now?
01:32 - So Tennessee is,
01:33 we have that whole state partnership with.
01:35 The state of Ohio has actually used one of our courses
01:38 as well, one of our many AI courses too.
01:40 We're speaking to New York, California,
01:42 spoken to Arkansas, as well as other countries too.
01:45 So East and West Africa, as well as in Asia.
01:47 So there's a lot.
01:48 - That's amazing.
01:49 Can you talk to me a bit about any metrics
01:53 that show the scale of your company?
01:54 Can you talk about how you've had sales growth
01:56 or revenue growth or user growth?
01:58 - Yeah, yeah.
01:58 So I would say we've had about 2.5 to 3 million in sales.
02:03 - Talk to me about your fundraising journey.
02:07 What's that been like and how much have you raised?
02:09 - Our most recent round was our series A
02:10 and it was 15 million.
02:12 And I think so far we've raised about 21 million.
02:14 - In dealing with dictionaries,
02:15 instead of using if-else statements
02:17 to check if a key exists inside the dictionary.
02:20 What's it like to be a young woman
02:22 in a very male-centric tech field?
02:25 - Yeah.
02:26 - Especially young women.
02:27 - Yeah, yeah.
02:28 So I actually, I worked at JPL.
02:31 I was one of like a few women out of like a group
02:34 of about 30 and it was tough.
02:37 But I also think it's so important to have mentors
02:39 and people who support you.
02:41 When we visit schools in Tennessee, right?
02:43 Like I get to talk to the girls taking those classes
02:47 and they come up to me and like we chat.
02:49 And I think that is kind of what keeps me going.
02:52 - Is there one piece of business advice
02:56 or a rule that you always operate by no matter what?
02:59 - Yeah, there is.
03:00 And it's gonna sound simple,
03:02 but it's really to treat people well
03:04 and with respect and empathy.
03:06 And I think like whether it's business or personal,
03:08 I truly believe this and maybe I'm privileged
03:12 to have experienced this and believe this.
03:13 I think if you treat people well,
03:16 treat them with respect and empathy,
03:17 then the right people will surround you
03:19 and the right people will support you.
03:21 That's actually, I feel like we talk about that
03:23 in our courses too.
03:24 'Cause I think one big role education has is,
03:27 I mean, kids are learning these different subjects
03:29 in a very important time in their life.
03:31 So it's important to show them that like kindness
03:34 and empathy can go a long way too.
03:35 So that's, and I think it can go a long way in business,
03:39 professional, personal.
03:40 So that's, I mean, yeah.
03:41 - I totally agree, it can be really applied to anything.
03:43 - Yeah, it sounds simple, but I think it's really,
03:45 really important to remember on a day-to-day basis.
03:48 - Last question for you.
03:51 What would you like your legacy to be?
03:53 - What would I like my legacy to be?
03:55 I think this maybe ties back to the piece of advice.
03:58 It's gonna sound simple, but I guess I hope I can be
04:01 somebody that helps other people believe in themselves
04:05 a little bit more.
04:06 I think education has a big role to play in that.
04:09 So I think if we can create a product and courses
04:11 and curriculum that make people feel like
04:15 they have the potential to be who they want
04:17 and do what they want, that would be great.
04:19 That, and I just hope I can be someone that's empathetic
04:22 and kind and can help others do the same.
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