Springboard is an online upskilling platform that provides mentor-guided six- and nine-month courses in data science, AI, design, coding and analytics to help learners land in-demand roles. More than 50% of its mentors work at Fortune 500 companies and guide students on professional decisions. The platform serves students in over 80 countries, expanded to India last year, and plans official launches in additional geographies beyond the U.S. and India. Springboard adjusts pricing by geography (for example, a nine-month course is about $7,500 in the U.S. and $3,300 in India), works with financial partners to offer interest-free installment plans, and refunds tuition for students who do not secure a better job. Operating metrics the company cites include fewer than 0.02% of students requesting refunds, about 94% of eligible students landing a job within six months, and typical post-course pay increases of 25% to 100%. Springboard is a San Francisco–based online school for workforce upskilling that offers fully-online, job-guaranteed courses in analytics, data science, design, software engineering and other new-economy fields. Students study part-time while keeping their jobs and receive one-on-one calls with industry mentors and career coaches. To date the company has trained over 14,000 students and earlier in the year launched three programs in India. Springboard has partnered with Microsoft to train and place 5,000 students into analytics jobs over the next three years through its Data Analytics Career Track. The company plans to grow its Indian presence and continue expansion into additional geographies in 2020 and beyond. The additional funding will be used to expand offerings into new verticals and geographies, enhance career services and employer partnerships, and launch alumni-focused initiatives. Springboard runs mentor-driven, job-focused online courses and six-month “career track” specialisms (initially data science and digital marketing) designed as a lower-cost alternative to graduate study. Students work one-on-one with industry mentors and career coaches and access a mentor and alumni network that feeds hiring opportunities. The company reports having graduated or currently teaching over 7,000 students, with nearly 1,000 students graduated or currently in its paid career-track cohorts. Career-track courses start at $7,500 and include a guarantee that graduates will find a related job within six months or receive a refund; Springboard has not yet issued a refund. Springboard operates from a San Francisco HQ with an engineering team in Bangalore, has about 40 employees, and says it recently hit profitability. Near-term plans include expanding premium courses into information security, growing specialisms, improving its technology, and exploring white-label in-house training for employers. Springboard (formerly SlideRule) is an India–U.S. online education startup that pairs students with paid mentors and curated course content to deliver practical, portfolio-driven learning. It pivoted from a course search engine to curated content and then added mentor-led engagement after finding users failed to complete self-directed courses. Core offerings are short, self-paced but mentor-supported courses (example: a three-month data science course billed at $500/month) culminating in a portfolio project and LinkedIn-displayable certifications. The company reports about 1,000 graduated students and a mentor network of over 100 individuals. Springboard graduated the Microsoft Accelerator in Bangalore and has a current team of nine, planning to grow to about 15 in six months. The startup plans to use new funding to increase course capacity, launch new courses, and build additional services, with a goal of serving roughly ten times more students within a year.

Total raised

$53M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

Aug 2020