Led · Equity · Apr 2024

Making Space operates a talent acquisition and learning platform that connects more than 50,000 disabled individuals with job-aligned skill development, community support, and career pathways. Its flagship Ascend Fellowship combines cohort-based programming, 1:1 support, and employer engagement to improve hiring, retention, and advancement for disabled professionals. The program has supported over 200 participants and its first cohort of 100 participants produced $111 million in projected lifetime earnings and a cited 123:1 return on investment; the broader Ascend impact is reported as more than $220 million in projected lifetime economic impact. Making Space has trained roughly 5,000 hiring managers and partnered with employers including Red Bull, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola to improve workplace accessibility. With the new grant, the company plans to scale the Ascend Fellowship nationally, pilot and validate responsible AI tools to assist with skill translation and benefits navigation, and expand employer-facing inclusion initiatives to increase retention and advancement opportunities for disabled professionals.

Participated · Series A · Feb 2024

ZipLines Education, based in San Carlos, CA, partners with universities to deliver industry-focused certificate courses designed to prepare professionals for a digital-first workforce. Its 10-week courses are delivered fully online and combine self-directed (asynchronous) learning with live, interactive (synchronous) sessions. Led by CEO and founder Sara Leoni, the company works with university partners to offer industry-aligned curricula. ZipLines plans to use new funding to expand its team, develop proprietary technology products, and strengthen partnerships with universities to serve more students. Over the coming months it will announce new university partnerships and expand hiring in technology, marketing, analytics, learning experience design, and student success. The company recently closed a $6.4M Series A to support these efforts.

Participated · Equity · Nov 2023

Nucleos offers an all-in-one service that brings web-based educational content and authorized media to correctional facilities via secure tablets. The company handles security, disables components that could enable prohibited outside communication, and tracks courses and credentials for reentry. Nucleos does not manufacture tablets or create course content, but integrates those elements for facilities and partners with in-person educators rather than replacing them. Authorized media available through its library system includes e-books and movies, and the company says it may offer video calling and messaging in the future. Nucleos emphasizes digital literacy training alongside its tools to help incarcerated people use modern interfaces. The organization recently reclassified as a public benefit corporation and runs a “reentry-as-a-service” program supported in part by public funding such as San Francisco’s "People Over Profits" program. To sustain operations while pursuing more facility deals, Nucleos raised private investment and grants. Nucleos has built an online portal for tablets and computer labs in prisons that offers academic coursework, mental‑wellness content and vocational training with an emphasis on credentials that count toward high school or industry certification. Content from 10 companies is available, covering high‑school credit recovery, literacy, typing and job‑related skills; some programs offer industry‑recognized certifications such as NCCER and OSHA. The platform also tracks inmates’ completed programs and certifications to address frequent transfers between facilities. The company is San Jose, Calif.‑based and was founded in 2017; its software is currently used at one juvenile facility while it is in discussions with community colleges and county and state departments of corrections. Nucleos plans to charge correctional facilities directly for access to its software and is working on a partnership with an online course provider that partners with major universities. The team of five has been funded by friends and family, a Princeton alumni fund, a $225,000 NSF grant and recent investor support.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2022

Unmudl operates a Skills-to-Jobs™ marketplace that connects learners and employers via a coast-to-coast network of community colleges. The platform enables learners to access courses and short-term credential programs that lead to jobs paying family-supporting wages. Employers use the marketplace to source diverse talent directly from those courses and programs. Led by CEO Parminder K. Jassal, the company focuses on expanding relationships with community colleges and employers. Unmudl raised seed funding to support continued expansion of operations and to grow its network of community colleges and employers who power the marketplace.

Participated · Seed · Dec 2021

GoCoach is a NYC-based B2B SaaS upskilling, workplace learning, and coaching platform that provides career coaching and learning at scale. The platform enables self-guided coach selection, requires no minimum enrollment number, and gives managers and employees clear views into their progress. It is led by CEO Kristy McCann Flynn. The company raised $3.5M in seed funding led by Panoramic Ventures with participation from several investors. GoCoach intends to use the funds to expand talent by hiring employees and coaches with diverse backgrounds and to accelerate innovation. The product targets employers seeking to educate, empower, and retain the people they hire through scalable coaching and learning offerings.