This week’s featured startup
Campground (Sruti Bharat, Founder and CEO) – Campground is a CRM and hub for program management, purpose-built to streamline the operations, data, reporting, and participant-facing hub for cohort-based programs, upskilling and workforce initiatives.
Data Dive
Labor Productivity Growth Surges in the US (Gad Levanon) – US labor productivity has soared in the last five years, far more than other countries. The U.S.’s comparative advantage in technology likely played a key role. Other factors include a more flexible labor market, stronger investment in innovation, and a robust government stimulus that helped fuel a faster post-pandemic recovery.
Investment
L2L Acquires SwipeGuide – With its mobile-first frontline training and visual job aids for the manufacturing workforce, SwipeGuide will help L2L support its customers’ frontline training and upskilling efforts.
Savvas Learning Company Acquires Pointful Education – Pointful brings a range of virtual/blended learning solutions that engage students in career exploration and prepare them for the workforce, with 55 courses that are aligned with nationally recognized career clusters.
Stylus Raises $656K in New Funding to Reduce Teacher Burnout with AI Marking – Stylus helps schools leverage AI to reduce teacher workload, combining automated grading with human-moderated feedback to streamline the time-consuming process of evaluating paper-based assessments.
Angel Kids AI Secures $1.1M in Seed Extension Backed by Leading Investors – Their AI-powered browser offers age-customized content for children, customized to their age and parents’ values — while giving parents key insights to understand and develop their child’s interests.
Teambridge Raises $28M in Series B Funding – This will accelerate development of the workforce OS that replaces individual workplace tools by organizing and automating onboarding, scheduling, communication, time and attendance, reporting, pay, and more.
Aer Venture Studios Invests in Heyflow – New mothers see a 60% drop in earnings following their first child vs. fathers. HeyFlow’s employee experience insights are proven to improve talent retention, promotion opportunities, and profitability.
Swiss digital coaching platform Flowit raises EUR 4.2M in seed funding – The funding will power international growth for Flowit to support frontline workers, e.g. service technicians, healthcare workers, hospitality staff, with access to real-time feedback and development.
Resources
High-Paying Middle-Skills Jobs (Georgetown University Center on Education and Workforce) – How well are skills providers keeping up with future workforce demand? Compare the attainment of middle-skills credentials, high-paying occupations & projected local labor-market demand, across 55 US metro areas.
An Admittedly Partial List Of Funders (Greg Russak) – A list of investment firms with a stated focus on education, ed tech, workforce and learning.
Opportunities
Biden-Harris Administration Announces $1.3 Billion in Additional Funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities – HBCUs foster more upward mobility: about 30% of HBCU students move up at least two income quintiles (vs. 18% for non HBCUs).
Salesforce Gives $23M to Education to Help the AI Generation – Only 15% of workers feel adequately trained to use AI effectively. Funding includes $13M for middle/high schools, $10M to nonprofits, and over $6M focused on AI skilling and literacy.
Comcast Commits $35M To Support Expanding Economic Opportunity – 92% of jobs require digital skills, but 1/3 of U.S. workers lack basic digital skills (esp. in lower-income communities). The investment will support nonprofits in research, digital skills training, entrepreneurship, and creativity.
Google awards $10M grant to Atlanta to fund AI clinics – The grant will provide support to small business development centers (SBDCs), while creating AI clinics at universities and community colleges across the country.
New Funding to Explore Innovative Skills-Based Math Pathways for Adult Learners – 37% of learners age 30+ take remedial courses, with high failure rates. The new project helps to achieve college math proficiency, especially for adult learners missing a subset of skills.
New America Launches Innovation Accelerator for Community Colleges – The National Science Foundation (NSF) and New America will offer networking opportunities, guidance on best practices, policy engagement and funding to school leaders.
USC Education Technology Accelerator – Market and location-agnostic, covering K-12, Higher Ed, CTE and Workforce Development. 80%+ of alumni founders are BIPOC or female, raising $130M to date. Application window open through Sept 30.
In the news
The Rise of Upskilling and Continuous Learning in a Slow Labor Market (Forbes) – Talent is seeking more learning/development opportunities: 85% polled believe upskilling and reskilling will become the new career development standard.
4 Takeaways for Ed Tech Companies in Feds’ Data Privacy Lawsuit Against TikTok (Education Week) – To avoid regulatory action, Companies need to ensure COPPA compliance, manage data sharing, assess legal risks of ad targeting to children, and maintain transparent privacy policies.
The State of Education Venture Capital: What’s Still Getting Funded and Where Is Fundraising Headed Next (Education Week) – From $21B in 2021 to just $3B this year: education investors discuss where venture firms are still looking to place their bets.
Roy Scott’s Healthy Hip Hop: A Catalyst for Change in Children’s Health and Wellness (Startland News) – DC-based CTIA Wireless Foundation recognized the startup’s innovative, mobile app-based solution, which helps improve students’ reading and writing skills through hip hop music.
Death of Wells Fargo Employee Reveals Harsh Realities of Corporate Culture (Yahoo Finance) – The fact that an employee could be dead in the office for 4 days without someone else noticing speaks to a new reality about our working lives.
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