NextStep is a Seattle, WA-based health care education and job placement company that trains and places workers displaced by automation and artificial intelligence with long-term care providers. Its core product is a blended-learning certified nursing assistant (CNA) program offered at no up-front cost that prepares learners for CNA roles and places graduates with employer partners. The company already trains and places CNAs at over 70 facilities of employer partners in Colorado. NextStep intends to use the $2.5M funding to accelerate growth in Colorado and to expand into other states. Led by CEO Chris Hedrick, the company focuses on reaching job seekers underserved by traditional education models. The recent raise provides capital to scale operations and employer placements. NextStep is a Seattle-based, mobile-first skills training and job placement company focused on expanding the supply of Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs). It delivers courses on mobile devices in 10–15 minute modules designed for displaced service and hospitality workers to retrain for higher-paying healthcare roles. Through a Colorado pilot approved by the state Board of Nursing, NextStep has enrolled more than 2,000 learners and places graduates with employer partners. The company launched a National COVID-Ready Caregiver Certificate to train CNAs, home health aides and other frontline caregivers on infection-reduction and safe-caregiving practices. In the first week after the certificate’s launch, more than 200 healthcare employers signed up, extending access to over 10,000 caregivers. NextStep raised $3.6M in funding to support its efforts and expansion. NextStep Interactive delivers mobile, 10–15 minute training modules to help displaced workers retrain for careers in the health care industry. Its platform enables employers to screen talent based on demonstrated competencies and soft skills indicative of fit for health-care professions. Workers receive training, certification and automatic job placement services aimed at shifting employees from low-wage service and hospitality roles into higher-earning health-care jobs with promotion potential. The company is a spinout of Pioneer Square Labs and is led by CEO Chris Hedrick, operating out of Seattle, WA and Bozeman, MT. Financially, NextStep announced a $3m funding round and had previously disclosed a $3.275m round in fall 2018 led by JAZZ Venture Partners. Recent backers include SEI Ventures, JAZZ Venture Partners, Learn Capital’s LearnStart fund, Springrock Ventures, City Light Capital, Frontier Angels and three managing directors of Pioneer Square Labs.

Total raised

$9M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Jan 2021