In 2020, I wrote a profile of Sara Leoni and her cutting-edge education company, GreenFig.
I then wrote, “What they teach is different, the way they do it stands out, and their entrepreneurial style may be the way forward for a multitude of education providers who are suffering from their position in the market. “
Without bragging too much, this turns out to be a real trend. And others agree.
This morning, Ziplines Education, GreenFig’s new call, announced a $6. 4 million Series A investment round.
This is an impressive figure for the top Serie A, but for investments in the school market, which have been cut in recent years, $6. 4 million is a staggering figure. The investment, led through Jackson Square Ventures in California, is an endorsement of the founder’s concept and foundation.
That concept is, according to the 2020 cover, working with schools to provide “systems in spaces like virtual marketing science, visitor success, and sales operations, systems that are in generation but not generation. “Ziplines describes its courses and systems as helping “higher education close the virtual skills gap by providing turnkey professional certification courses for in-demand generation-adjacent careers. “The purpose is to push for such courses and systems to be delivered through schools, not to compete with them.
“There’s no denying that the generation is evolving at breakneck speed, much faster than corporations can exercise their employees. As a result, employees need opportunities to upskill and retrain to acquire new virtual skills so they can keep up with changing trends. , becoming indispensable to employers,” Leoni said. AI has only further accelerated the importance of generation-adjacent skills (one in four jobs are expected to be replaced in the next five years), and through our highly collaborative educational partnerships, we’re able to help those Americans gain in-demand skills, enjoy and recognizable qualifications so they can pursue and navigate the career path they want with confidence,” she said.
The new capital includes new stakes from previous investors, in addition to Wildcat Venture Partners and WGU Labs, Western Governors University’s investment and expansion vehicle to educate innovators. The Series A announcement states that the company will use the cash to “expand its team, expand its own product generation and strengthen partnerships with universities. “
Greg Gretsch, Managing Director of Jackson Square Ventures, who will join Ziplines’ board of directors, said, “We are excited to see Ziplines expand its catalog and capabilities, double its educational partnerships, and invest more in its industry-leading results. With the growing demand for short-term, high-impact careers, Ziplines is taking advantage of a huge market opportunity, while also creating significant advancements for professionals pursuing the careers they need.
Aside from Leoni’s experience and leadership, this investment is an important sign of where the cash bet in higher education is headed: fast track, high impact, vocational training. This is not necessarily new. It is very predictable that up-and-coming educational corporations will turn to job training, where the procurement process is easier and the cost higher. The difference is that Leoni and Ziplines started there, building the company’s foundation at the crossroads of academia and professional. .
As more and more titles put pressure on schools to submit more favorable offers for racing, Leoni and Ziplines are, unsurprisingly, in the right position at the right time.
The company also claims that schools such as the University of Virginia’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies, Texas Tech University, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte have adopted its technique and offer its “technology-adjacent” certifications.
The fundraising announcement hints at more partnerships between schools and universities in the future, which wouldn’t be surprising. Many, many higher education establishments have their eyes set on short-term, career-rich systems, especially when the systems are strongly tied to the contracting industry. Leaders. And knowledge shows that those systems are expanding in terms of enrollment and funding.
In other words, if you’re in the long-term of that kind of educational services, as those investors obviously did, the timing is pretty right. And if you’re into the long haul of Ziplines, or Leoni’s, that seems pretty clever too. It’s probably only a matter of time before you communicate in those pages a nine- or ten-figure output. I wouldn’t bet against her or her idea. Obviously, others agree.