BitDegree, a leading blockchain-powered online education platform, has announced that its unique education-oriented metaverse – the Learnoverse – has raised over $1M from Mistletoe, a venture ecosystem builder and investor founded by Taizo Son, a serial entrepreneur and a billionaire investor based in Japan.
Earlier this spring, BitDegree announced that it is developing the first-ever learning metaverse, the Learnoverse. With the launch of the Learnoverse, the company aims to create an engaging way of learning about blockchain, crypto, and Web3-related topics within the metaverse.
According to a news release, Learnoverse will gamify the learning content and the experience by providing a virtual world made just for Web3 learning, where learners, instructors, and brands can interact and express their knowledge and status through NFTs. Moreover, a new concept in education, Learn & Earn, will be used to reward the learning effort and motivate students to complete courses.
Commenting on the development, Danielius Stasiulis, Co-founder & CEO of BitDegree, said,
“Over the last few months, our novel concept of a learning metaverse has received attention from a lot of big players in the crypto and education communities. We are very excited to have attracted a trusted investor like Mistletoe from Japan, whose support will help us to open many doors.“
Atsushi Taira, Managing Director at Mistletoe, also commented saying,
“We truly believe that education is the key to the Web3 internet revolution. BitDegree, a leading education platform for blockchain-focused topics, has a powerful vision to attract more learners to the space via an immersive metaverse experience. Its more than 40 people strong team, experience, and a big existing user base are important factors that led us to this decision.“
Since 2017 BitDegree has been developing various blockchain applications for education, such as blockchain credentials, peer-to-peer blockchain scholarships, and different incentive-based products, including platform gamification. The company was named the Global Champion in SDG 4 – for improving education through ICT – by the United Nations’ World Summit Awards in 2020.
Mistletoe has a strong focus on investments in solving global challenges, including learning and education. Since its establishment in 2013, the venture capital firm has already supported over 200 startups and VCs.