Startup Street: Codeacademy’s First Real Revenue Stream Is Online

This week on Startup Street, an online platform which helped 45 million people with the basics of coding for free has finally started monetising. Elon Musk is building his own Hyperloop but he needs someone to build a pod. Flipkart launches its own private label and Zoomcar goes beyond city limits.

Codeacademy Goes Pro

Anyone who has tried his hand at learning how to code must be familiar with Codeacademy. The online learning startup has been offering free coding classes in 12 different programming languages since 2011.

Now, the startup wants to take it a step further. It launched a three-tiered paid service which will allow personal learning, provide mentored help in building websites from scratch and build front-end applications. The fee ranges from $19.9 to $499 per month.

Founder Zach Sims, in a blog post said, said the startup wants to “bridge the gap between employers who were desperate for technology-literate employees, and potential employees who were eager to learn these skills yet didn’t know where to start”. The pro suite will help "anyone learn resume-ready skills to advance their career", he added.

This is the first time Codeacademy has a revenue generating plan. The New York-headquartered company raised $2.5 million in Series A funding in October 2011 and $10 million in Series B funding in June 2012. Crunchbase reported an additional Series C round of funding led by Bloomberg Beta in 2013.

You Can Build A Hyperloop Pod? Elon Has A Job For You

Technology's poster-face for everything cool, Elon Musk, is tapping into the country's smartest students to build the travel pod for its underground transportation system Hyperloop. The startup will launch a two-day Hyperloop Pod Competition II starting August 25 with the goal to accelerate the development of functional prototypes, it said on its website.

"Based on the high-quality submissions and overwhelming enthusiasm surrounding the first competition, SpaceX has moved forward with Hyperloop Pod Competition II."

Teams of new and returning students will test their pods at SpaceX’s Hyperloop track in Hawthorne, CA.

The Hyperloop tunnel is Musk's dream of an alternative transportation system which would be a lot faster, safer, cheaper and immune to weather. While the tunnel is already built across California by Musk's other startup - The Boring Company, the pod meant to transport people through the tunnel is still under development.

Musk had earlier revealed that he received "verbal approval" from the government to build a tunnel between New York and D.C. - a distance that would take 29 minutes with the Hyperloop transportation system.

Also Read: Elon Musk Inspired an Industry of Hyperloop Startups. Now He’s Building His Own

Flipkart’s Billion

After a failed merger attempt with rival Snapdeal, e-commerce firm Flipkart launched a private label of products, which according to the company, are all manufactured in India.

The 'Billion' brand will offer a range of products including mixers, grinders, cookware and backpacks, according to a blog post by Flipkart.

Flipkart said that this is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make In India initiative to boost domestic manufacturing. "The brand's supply chain team is working with top-class domestic manufacturers known for great quality practices", the post added.

Zoomcar Starts Hop Service

Self-driving car rental startup Zoomcar has launched a new intercity service which allows renting cars for travel between neighbouring cities.

The Zoom Hop service allows for a one-way drive, which means the user can drop off the vehicle in the city they're travelling to.

The service is now active on eight routes across the country at varying rates. A 150 km trip from Mumbai to Pune would cost Rs 1,360 on weekdays and Rs 2,080 on weekends. Similarly, a 268 km trip from Ahmedabad to Surat will cost Rs 2,160 on weekdays and Rs 3,150 on weekends.