Soon after Elisha Tan graduated from National University of Singapore, she wanted to learn squash. A search online proved futile.
Tan said, “Nobody would say that they are a terrible coach, so reviews on their sites aren’t good enough. Also, since I’m learning for fun, I didn’t need to learn from a professional. Learning from an enthusiast works as well, but how do I find them?”
This is why soon after graduation, she enrolled into the Founder Institute, a program for people who want to build a business, and started Learnemy. Learnemy is a peer to peer marketplace where you can learn skills from your community. Publicly launched last month, Learnemy has matched more than 700 on its beta site and has attracted 135 instructors whom signed up on the platform to teach those who are interested.
Currently focusing on programming, sports and music categories, Learnemy’s instructors include athletes previously from the Singapore national team and community leaders of various programming language user groups.
Learnemy provides an easy way for learners and instructors to find each other. To find an instructor for private lessons, simply do a search on the website, read verified reviews, and book a time. Customers can also join group lessons to learn with their peers.
Interested instructors sign up online and can start accepting learners once Learnemy has authenticated the instructor. Listing classes are free on the platform; the startup takes a 20% commission per enrollment. Both professional trainers and enthusiasts are welcomed to teach.
“Learning don’t have to take place in a classroom. I’ve also used Learnemy to teach a copywriting class at a café. It was a casual atmosphere and the teaching wasn’t just from teacher to student – we also shared our knowledge with each other,” said Tan.
Will Learnemy work? Definitely. There are of course, free courses online on YouTube, Lynda or Coursera, but for skills such as sports or programming, it would definitely help if there are instructors who are physically there to guide you.
