Microlearning startup Arist raises $12m to reimagine workplace learning for a new generation

Arist, whose microlearning platform is used by Fortune 500 employers to meet their learners where they are, by delivering engaging learning content through messaging tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, announced that it has raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by pioneering growth-stage business software investor PeakSpan Capital, accompanied by Rainfall Ventures.

Alex Mahadevan, Director, MediaWise, Poynter Institute: "As the pace of technological change accelerates t's increasingly urgent that we rethink how we deliver learning to meet the needs of people of all generations. Arist's approach is demonstrating the potential of microlearning that meets learners where they are a model that should be table stakes for the growing number of organizations who recognize the strategic importance of training and development."

Recent research suggests that Gen Z workers, who will make up 60% of the workforce by 2030, dramatically prefer text message communication to email and engage as much as five times faster via text message. Designed to reach employees on the platforms where they already spend more than 80% of their time, Arist's microlearning platform enables employers to deliver customized skills training courses on Slack or Microsoft Teams, as well as messaging tools like WhatsApp or SMS text.

Phil Dur, Co-founder and Managing Partner, PeakSpan: "Microlearning has always been an area with immense promise but one that has equally been stymied by poor delivery models and content that wasn't fit for purpose. Arist cracked the code in delivering best-in-class learner experiences and outcomes through the marriage of exceptional bite-sized learning material with the channels that learners prefer to use."

Existing corporate training platforms rely on resource intensive course creation methods, and require learning development times of between 79 and 490 hours per learner hour. Arist's delivery method is rooted in groundbreaking research from Harvard and Stanford, can be delivered and completed in as little as five minutes per day, and can be tailored to a variety of training and skilling areas, including professional development, onboarding and customer centricity, future skills, and more.

Michael Ioffe, Co-founder and CEO, Arist: "Millennial and Gen Z workers are already the fastest-growing sector of the labor force. But today's legacy learning and development tools are not keeping pace with the way that this new generation engages with the world of work. By helping businesses meet employees where they are, we're tapping the potential of short-form, skills-focused learning content to drive engagement and retention — and, in turn, advance employers' broader strategic objectives."

Arist first launched its text-based training programs in 2018, as a way to provide learning opportunities in war zones where internet was limited. As of today, over 100,000 courses have been delivered to over 1,000 leading NGOs, governments, and companies, including over 10 percent of the Fortune 500.

www.arist.co