the customer is seeking. (Tier one provides minimal applicant tracking, essentially meant to cheaply replace spreadsheets for small businesses. Tier two opens access to all of HireOrbit’s features, and tier three is for enterprise customers.)
Mimir raised a small pre-seed round while still in California after finishing at Y Combinator, but Veluvolu says a number of investors pulled out once Mimir decided to return to Indiana. Midwest investors picked up the slack, with participation from M25 Group, Meridian Street Capital, Chicago Venture Partners, and angel investors. (Veluvolu declined to specify how much the company has raised.)
In 2017, the seven-person Mimir team plans to release new features for its classroom product and expand HireOrbit so Mimir Classroom users can seamlessly become HireOrbit candidates if they choose. A company would be able to request Mimir Classroom candidates with certain skills, he says, and if there’s a match, there will be a double opt-out feature for students and recruiters in case either party isn’t interested.
But Mimir’s long-term goal, Veluvolu says, is to create its own computer science courses for students in kindergarten through graduate school, and bring that curriculum to as many classrooms as possible.
“We’ve discovered that MOOCs don’t work for computer science,” he says, referring to the massive open online courses that are meant to allow anyone to learn almost anything for free at their own pace. “Computer science is very hands-on, and if you don’t write code, you can’t learn it.”
What Veluvolu envisions is a “hybrid MOOC” that combines automation with the human touch. It would also include an adaptive learning algorithm that could determine a student’s skill level and present content based on that. The planned feature he’s most proud of? The ability to summon a live mentor to step in and help students if they’re stuck.
Mimir is currently housed at the Anvil, where they went from a shared desk to their own dedicated office space in less than two years. Veluvolu says the company plans to stay in Indiana “for the foreseeable future.”
