Illustration: Ajay Mohanty
Upward & Onward secures a $10 million growth round from Blume Ventures for Interview Kickstart, its flagship Tech and AI Workforce Skilling platform.
Interview Kickstart is the go-to platform for US working tech professionals who want to prepare to work at the best tech companies. Over 20,000 people have gone through their programs spanning AI, Machine Learning, Data Science, and other advanced engineering and Product areas, making them the largest player in the US market.
This is Blume Ventures’ largest opening investment to date and is a clear vote of confidence in Interview Kickstart’s vision, market leadership, and demonstrated profitable growth, said the company in a release. The funding will solidify Interview Kickstart’s position as the leader in the US market and help it expand its platform globally.
The company, founded by Soham Mehta, formerly at eBay, Microsoft, and Box, and Ryan Valles, ex-Accel Partners and CEO of dealsandyou.com, saw first-hand that with the pace of change in tech and the very high bar required at top companies, there was no way for software engineers to Level Up in their careers. Even today, the acceptance rate at top tech companies is 2 per cent – 5 per cent.
Ryan Valles, Co-founder at Interview Kickstart, said, “Top tech companies pay two to three times as much as others and offer massive wealth-creating opportunities via Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). Interview Kickstart, with our instructors and partners, aims to help working tech professionals prepare for these compelling opportunities.”
At the heart of Interview Kickstart’s model is the ability to run courses designed and delivered by big tech (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google/ex-FAANG) engineers. Interview Kickstart’s pool of over 500 instructors includes engineers and recruiters at Google, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and other top tech companies.
Karthik, Managing Partner, Blume Ventures: “Interview Kickstart presented a unique opportunity in this otherwise difficult environment. Apart from knowing Ryan for over 7-8 years, we discovered Soham and their bootstrapped and profitable business in 2023 and found it irresistible on performance and future potential. The investment is a testament to our belief in Interview Kickstart’s mission and track record of delivering career-shifting impact to professionals.”
In a world where Big and top Tech is the force behind the rapid pace of tech innovation, including the significant platform shift that Generative AI brings about, there has never been a more substantial need for the 22 million software engineers worldwide to focus on building the essential skills that are emerging out of top tech companies to stay relevant and Level Up.
First Published: Feb 26 2024 | 6:49 PM IST
