Codementor, a one-on-one learning platform for software developers, has raised $600,000 in seed funding. The Techstars-backed site, which launched to the public last week and currently has more than 600 programming experts, will use the capital to drive product development. Founder Weiting Liu says that the startup will also focus on building its user base.
The site’s angel investors include Techstars founder and CEO David Cohen; Will Ballard, CTO of Gerson Lehrman Group; Fabrice Grinda, Jose Marin, and Alex Oxenford, founders of online marketplace OLX; Funzio founders Anil Dharni, Andy Keidel, and Ram Gudavalli; Richard Chen; Rolf Mathies; Vineet Madan; and TMI.
Codementor lets its experts set their own rates in 15-minute increments and monetizes by taking a 20 percent share. Though Codementor operates in the same niche as sites like AirPair and HackHands, Liu believes that they aren’t necessarily competitors, but the beginning of a new industry as more people learn about software development.
“I believe that this is going to be a multi-billion-dollar industry. We are in a similar, nascent space, so there are overlaps here and there. But as time goes on, our angles will become much more different,” says Liu.
He adds that Codementor’s “microconsulting” services fit into the trend for on-demand help exemplified by Google Helpouts and Amazon’s Mayday. Codementor targets its services at people learning how to code on their own, as well as companies that want to hire experts for a few hours to train engineers or solve issues.
“We have the technology that can enable instant help remotely at scale. We see industry giants like Google and Amazon working on instant help services for mass vertical markets,” says Liu. “Learning how to code is becoming more mainstream and there are not just companies, but also developers who don’t have a support group to help them.”