Guild operates a Career Opportunity Platform that partners with large employers to provide education, reskilling, career development and coaching to frontline workers. The company serves employers across retail, hospitality, healthcare and financial services and lists partners including Walmart, Chipotle, Discover, Hilton, Macy’s, Target and The Walt Disney Company. Over the past year nearly 5 million workers gained access to Guild’s platform and Guild grew its number of members by 140% since June 2021; employees working with Guild have a 2X higher likelihood of an annual role change compared to peers. Guild says it helps employers build workforce mobility pathways and offers programs without workers paying tuition or career services on their own. Future plans described in the articles include expanding into dynamic, in-demand sectors such as healthcare and financial services and building out a broader career opportunity ecosystem. Guild is exploring tools to remove barriers to education and career growth, including occupational assessments, childcare solutions, employer loan repayment programs and financial wellness tools. Guild Education operates an employer-sponsored up-skilling marketplace that connects large employers, employees and learning providers to offer tuition-covered and low-cost education options. The platform partners with employers such as Walmart, Chipotle and The Walt Disney Company and offers students optionality among low-cost universities, bootcamps and certificate programs. Guild takes a cut of tuition revenue as its core business model. The company plans to use new funding to grow its coaching team, expand its marketplace with more short-term certificate opportunities and boost outreach with historically Black colleges and universities. CEO and co-founder Rachel Carlson said Guild has more than doubled revenue since the start of the COVID pandemic and that more than 4 million Americans have access to Guild through their employer. The up-skilling market is crowded, with competitors like Udemy, Coursera and Degreed, but Guild emphasizes its data on both education and employment to differentiate. Guild Education operates an employee education benefits platform that connects Fortune 1000 employers with a network of nonprofit, accredited universities to offer degrees, certificates, trade diplomas, ESL classes and high-school completion programs. The company works with employer clients including Walmart, Lowe’s, The Walt Disney Company, Discover Financial and Chipotle to deliver tuition benefits and education pathways to workers. To date, 400,000 working adults have used Guild to explore returning to school with employer support. Guild has established partnerships with universities such as the University of Arizona, Purdue Global, Southern New Hampshire University and the University of Central Florida. Financially, the company completed a $157M Series D and is valued at $1 billion. Guild plans to expand employer and university partnerships, explore acquisitions and grow its team. Guild Education operates a tech platform and a network of nonprofit and public universities that enables Fortune 1000 employers to offer debt-free degrees and education benefits to employees. Customers cited in the article include large employers such as Disney and Lowe’s. The company frames its offering as “education as a benefit,” helping employees return to school with employer support. Guild says its services are available to more than three million Americans and targets workers who have not had access to traditional college pathways. Its mission emphasizes expanding opportunity and improving college completion by building pathways through employer and institutional partnerships. The company’s work recently attracted an investment from NBA player Stephen Curry and SC 30 president Bryant Barr, who see alignment with Curry’s Eat. Learn. Play Foundation. Guild Education is an education benefits platform that connects large employers and their workforces with nonprofit universities focused on serving working adults. Led by CEO Rachel Carlson, its Education Network offers programs from high school completion and vocational certificates through bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The company supplements its offerings with retention coaches and advisors who support employees from enrollment through graduation. Guild is available to over 2.5M working adults and provides access to classes and programs at more than 90 universities and learning providers. It works with major U.S. employers including Walmart, Discover Financial Services, Lowe’s, Taco Bell, and Lyft and plans to expand its reach and impact in coming years. Financially, Guild closed a $40M Series C in July 2018 and intends to use the funds to grow its presence in the Fortune 1000.

Total raised

$552M

Funding rounds

7

Latest round

Series F

Latest activity

Jun 2022