Springboard, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of online workforce upskilling, raised $9.5m in Series A funding.
The round was led by Costanoa Ventures, with participation from Learn Capital and Jyoti Bansal, the founder of AppDynamics, as well as returning investors Blue Fog Capital, Rocketship.vc, and Moneta Ventures. In conjunction with the funding, Mark Selcow, Venture Partner at Costanoa Ventures, is joining Springboard’s board.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its offering into new verticals and geographies, improve upon the learning platform, expand career services and alumni support, and hire across product, marketing, engineering, and student services.
Led by CEO and co-founder Gautam Tambay, Springboard is a workforce upskilling company that offers online courses and extensive mentor-based learning for early- and mid-level professionals in data science, UX design, digital marketing, and other new-economy fields where the demand for talent exceeds supply.
The company’s model pairs each student with an industry mentor, who provides real-world context, frequent feedback, and career advice, resulting in nearly tenfold higher completion rates than Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and other online courses.
Students also work with career coaches and advisors, who focus on job readiness through mock interviews and career-focused curriculum modules.
The company will also launch courses in cybersecurity in early 2018.
FinSMEs
18/12/2017