SAN FRANCISCO — Aug. 9, 2021 — Pathstream Inc., a premier provider of digital skills education programs, today announced a timely investment from leading impact investors including Citi, Strada Education Network, and New Markets Venture Partners, alongside participation from existing investors HCM, Entangled Ventures, and Rethink Education. These strategically aligned investors join Pathstream in providing efficient pathways to jobs of the future that require digital skills, pay attractive salaries, and offer opportunities for upward economic mobility.
Pathstream intends to use the funding to continue scaling its core product which simultaneously serves individuals and employers: helping adults acquire digital skills through interactive online certificate programs and predictably matching them with employers seeking job-ready talent for positions facing acute talent shortages. The programs were uniquely designed in collaboration with leading tech companies Salesforce, Tableau, Facebook, Asana and Unity whose software is central to these digital skills careers.
“Millions of working adults in the U.S. are looking to transition to economically stable and personally fulfilling careers, but have hit a dead end,” said CEO and co-founder Eleanor Cooper. “These individuals aren’t looking for a full four-year degree, or highly self-directed online videos. They want the missing middle–a fast, flexible, and guided educational experience providing a direct path into the doors of employers in need of job-ready talent with digital skills.”
Today Pathstream serves over 8,000 students, has an industry-leading job placement rate and has achieved 5x year-over-year growth, adding partnerships with a number of higher education institutions including Harvard Division of Continuing Education and NYU Tandon School of Engineering. Pathstream programs are also now available to a large number of frontline workers at Fortune 500 companies, including nearly 1.5 million Walmart and Sam’s Club team members, through employment benefits provided in partnership with Guild Education.
“Digital skills are a prerequisite for jobs that pay well and have advancement opportunities, and we need to do a better job helping people develop those skills,” said Ed Skyler, Head of Global Public Affairs at Citi. “Citi invested in Pathstream through our Impact Fund because it is aligned with our commitment to both support workforce development and create more equitable opportunities for people who want to participate in what our economy has to offer.”
About Pathstream
Pathstream partners with top tech companies and universities to offer online certificate programs that prepare adult learners for in-demand jobs. These include the Tableau Data Analytics Certificate, Facebook Digital Marketing Certificate, Asana Project Management Certificate, and Salesforce Administrator Career Certificate. Each of these career pathway programs prepares working adult learners to enter these high-demand digital career areas.
About Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.
About Strada Education Network
We are a new kind of nonprofit social impact organization dedicated to improving lives by forging clearer and more purposeful pathways between education and employment. Our approach combines innovative research, thought leadership, strategic philanthropy, mission-aligned investments and support for a network of affiliate organizations. Together, we work to better serve the millions of Americans seeking to complete postsecondary education, gain clear value from those experiences, and build meaningful careers. Learn more at stradaeducation.org.
About New Markets Venture Partners
New Markets Venture Partners is a leading impact investor that accelerates growth-stage education and workforce technology companies. The New Markets team has decades of experience supporting evidence-based, high growth companies that improve economic and social mobility by leveraging deep relationships with centers of education and workforce innovation. New Markets prides itself on adding value to our portfolio companies before, during and after the investment process, with the ultimate goal of improving both individual outcomes and the productivity of America’s education workforce system.
