San Francisco edtech startup Springboard raises $31 million Series B funding

San Francisco edtech startup Springboard has raised $31 million in Series B funding led by Mark Sherman and Albert Bielinko from Telstra Ventures, Arrun Kapoor from SJF Ventures, and YB Choi from Vulcan Capital, bringing total capital raised to more than $50 million. Most of Springboard's existing institutional investors also participated in the round, including Costanoa Ventures, Reach Capital, Pearson Ventures, IFC, 500 Startups, Blue Fog Capital, and Learn Capital.

The latest round of funding raised will enable Springboard double down on student employability in response to the current job market by creating new hiring focused products and strengthening employer partnerships to help graduates land their dream careers. 

The world is in the middle of the largest global labor market shift in over a century; millions of displaced workers are now looking to make the difficult transition into new, in demand careers. Springboard's remotefirst, mentor guided model is uniquely positioned to serve not only these individuals but also universities and employers who need help navigating today’s new economic reality.

Since Springboard was founded in 2013, it has pioneered a learning model that has enabled thousands of successful career transitions into the most in demand technology fields via its 100% online, job guaranteed programs. Unlike most online learning companies, Springboard focuses on employability, which means that it supports its graduates hiring. Since Springboard was founded, 94% of its eligible graduates secured a job within one year, earning an average salary increase of $26,000.

Springboard's unique strength has remained the same: its human centric approach to learning. The company match each student 1:1 with a personalized mentor, an industry professional working in their chosen field who provides weekly feedback to keep students motivated and accountable. This approach has resulted in 330% student enrollment growth from June 2019 to June 2020. Springboard values mentorship because changing careers is tough, it means long days, late nights, tough deadlines, frustrating setbacks, nagging self-doubt. 

The new funding will help Springboard further support its job seeking graduates. The company has several initiatives planned, including a series of innovative tools that will help students, including:

The Hireability Forecaster, a tool that provides early indications of student success and potential employability roadblocks by combining the power of Springboard’s predictive technology and the insights from its global community of almost 1,000 industry mentors. With 80% of Springboard mentors indicating they would hire their mentee, mentors and coaches will have the ability to indicate student achievement and intervene to course-correct if students fall behind. 

Springboard Introductions, a tool that offers Springboard students personalized, targeted introductions, and job referrals from its community of over 13,000 mentors, alumni, fellow students, and employer partners. Candidates who are internally referred are 15 times more likely to be hired than those who apply on a job board.

Student-Job Fit Recommender, an AI-driven job matching tool that recommends open roles at Springboard’s employer partners and helps match these to students’ unique background and skillset.

Springboard is also furthering its commitment to student employability and are also expanding its career services. It has tripled the number of virtual apprenticeship opportunities to build portfolio-worthy content and provide real-world work experience. The career services team has also grown its career coaching capacity by 4x to provide more access to office hours, mock interviews, and a team of placement experts assigned to each student. And, to provide additional support during the job search and has lso extended its professional mentorship after program completion.

www.springboard.com