BOSTON — March 31, 2022 — Electives, provider of training employees will love from people they’ll never forget, today announced the closing of an $8 million Series A led by Accomplice and G2O Ventures, with Boston Seed Capital participating in the round.
The Electives learning platform matches employers with extraordinary teachers based on employee preference data and organizational needs. Over 100 teachers are now available on the platform including professional athletes, top business school professors, improv comedians, FBI agents, social justice advocates, and more. Class topics range from New Manager Training, Leadership Development, Storytelling, Gender Identity, and Selling Virtually.
“Corporate training sucks,” said G20 Ventures Partner Mike Troiano, “… and that’s a big problem when companies are more focused than ever on recruiting, retaining, and developing the best people. Today we all need to feel we’re growing personally and professionally at work, and Electives does that by transforming the workplace training experience, through a community of amazing creators telling personal stories and sharing important skills.”
“Electives has re-defined who a corporate trainer is,” said Emily Mikailli, Head of HR at Signifyd. “Our employees have taken electives on The History of the Stonewall Inn Riots, The True Story of Emancipation, How to Manage Burnout, Effective Business Communication and more. The range of teachers and topics on the platform have been incredibly impactful for our team.”
Learning and development opportunities have long been a top request from employees, but the solutions in the market have failed to engage employees.
“As employees, we felt the pain of watching pre-recorded videos with multiple choice quizzes,” said Jason Lavender, co-founder and CEO. “Learning is a human experience. We need to feel connected to the teacher, as well as to our peers. Electives is bringing humanity back to learning at work.”
The two founders met in business school at MIT Sloan and were inspired by their learning experiences at school, contrasted to the training opportunities in the workplace.
“The corporate training market is extremely fragmented with tens of thousands of independent providers, making it impossible for companies to find the right teacher for their organization,” added Krikor Dzeronian, co-founder and COO. “Our marketplace collects data for teachers and enables companies to effortlessly facilitate live learning with proven teachers.”
“Learning is a lifelong process. We live in an ever changing world where content needs to be equally dynamic,” said Ryan Moore, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Accomplice. “The best employers recognize this need and contemporary platforms like Electives empower this mission.”
About Electives
Electives is on a mission to build training employees love from people they will never forget. Founded in 2020, the company provides learning and development classes with a twist: instead of the traditional, business-focused instructors leading courses, Electives sources its teachers from professionals across a variety of professions; including psychologists, professional athletes, top professors, and more. The company also provides DE&I classes and follows up with additional content after each class to increase retention and engagement with the material.
