Koru pivoted from a bootcamp placement platform to a SaaS enterprise model focused on predictive hiring. The product combines machine learning and employer-specific performance-driver data with individual assessments based on seven Koru7 Impact Skills to rank candidates in an online dashboard. Recruiters get access to candidate profiles and holistic assessments intended to predict performance and culture fit before hire. Customers mentioned in the article include Zillow and Bridgepoint Education. Koru employs 18 people and has backing from investors including Maveron and rapper Nas. The company has previously raised an $8 million Series A in January 2015 and has won GeekWire's Startup of the Year; total funding to date is $15 million. The new funding will be used to grow Koru's sales and marketing teams. Koru runs a four-week intensive business training program (with a hybrid online/in-person option) that teaches practical skills like interview prep, Google Analytics, Excel, design thinking and presentation skills while placing participants to work on real business challenges inside partner companies. It currently operates programs in Boston, San Francisco and Seattle and partners with employers including LinkedIn, zulily, Porch.com, Amazon and Zillow. According to Koru’s data, 85% of alumni find a job within two to six months of completing the program, and participants who remain unemployed after six months are not charged. Program pricing starts at $1,749 for early admission to the hybrid option and is expected to rise to about $2,849 later in the year. Koru plans to use the new funding to scale its programs and invest in the technology that supports its hybrid offerings. CEO and co-founder Kristen Hamilton says the company aims to create a more efficient talent marketplace to match graduates with employers and improve fit and skill-building. Koru operates a program that places recent college graduates into real-world work environments, providing hands-on training and mentorship with partner companies such as Smartsheet, REI, Julep and Zulily. The company was formed last year by entrepreneur Kristen Hamilton to address high rates of graduate underemployment. Koru aims to supercharge the careers of recent grads by giving them practical experience and professional networks. As part of its student support, Koru is launching a scholarship fund backed by investor Nas, who will work with the company to identify recipients. The company raised $4.35 million last December from Maveron, Battery Ventures, First Round Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. With Nas’s $100,000 investment through Queensbridge Venture Partners, total funding in Koru is $4.56 million. Koru is a Seattle education startup founded by Kristen Hamilton and Josh Jarrett that provides experiential learning programs to create workplace-ready recent college graduates and place them in high-growth work environments. The company partners directly with actively hiring employers and has participants work and learn on real-world challenges provided by those employers. Its approach combines in-person instruction, professional mentorship, and online learning to teach job-specific skills and expose participants to the tools and techniques needed in the modern workplace. Participants receive direct access to staff, executives and hiring managers and build professional connections through guest speakers and instructors. Koru has run pilot programs with REI and Trupanion and will launch a Winter Break program at zulily in 2014, where zulily has over 100 open positions; additional programs and partners are expected to be announced early next year. The company raised $4.35M in funding in a round led by Maveron, with participation from Battery Ventures, First Round Capital, a16z seed and other individual investors.

Total raised

$15M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Oct 2017