Eight Times Eight raises $5 million in pre-seed funding
The funding will be used to accelerate product development, scale operations sales, and hire new team members. Also, the funds will be used to develop the Learning Management System and strengthen the technology stack
India, November 01, 2022: Eight Times Eight, founded in 2020 by six college students who are international-level chess players, raised $5 million in pre-seed funding on September 19, 2022. The funding will be used to accelerate product development, scale operations sales, and hire new team members. Also, the funds will be used to develop the Learning Management System and strengthen the technology stack. Eight Times Eight aims to open physical centres in a calculated move to switch to hybrid mode with the same.
The start-up currently provides live, interactive chess classes to students in 20+ countries. They will also be launching India’s first-ever chess kit, which consists of a beautifully designed chess board, a chess workbook, and animated chess videos that will make learning the game fun and exciting.
The syllabus for the Eight Times Eight workbook has been curated by their ambassador, Grand Master SL Narayanan, a former India No. 4, Commonwealth Silver medallist, and a member of the Indian Olympiad Chess Team.
Eight Times Eight is on a mission to popularize chess among children and, thereby, advance their life skills with the game. Chess has an intellectual image in front of people, and there is a myth that only smart people play chess. Eight Times Eight wants to debunk this myth and prove otherwise.
Chess is not just a game, but a key life skill and has the potential to silently transform the lives of individuals. It can create champions both on and off the board. The funds we have received will certainly feed into our dream of popularizing chess. We are building a community throughout the world and the domain expertise that we have in this field will surely be beneficial, "said Abhijith, who is the CEO of Eight Times Eight.
All the co-founders of Eight Times Eight have represented India at global events. The co-founders began working on a full-time basis in September 2021.
Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.