附近上门

, a London-based startup seeking to provide an alternative to university training, raised $44 million in a Series B round as it expands to the United States.

Subscribe to the 附近上门 Daily

The company, which was previously known as WhiteHat, matches talent who have not graduated from college with apprenticeship opportunities at companies including , , and . Multiverse describes its services as something like an alternative to a traditional college education and 鈥渟poradic鈥� corporate training.

鈥淲e think there needs to be an alternative that links work and training explicitly that鈥檚 about applied learning but is also about more than that,鈥� CEO said in an interview with 附近上门 News. Blair is the son of former United Kingdom Prime Minister .

The apprenticeships are paid for by the employers, who also pay the apprentices for their work. Apprenticeships are generally around 18 months and each apprentice has a coach as they specialize in areas like digital marketing or software engineering.

Besides changing how career paths are formed, the company is also aiming to help companies diversify their teams. Part of the company鈥檚 social mission is making sure the best jobs of the next decade don鈥檛 go to the same people who had the best jobs of the last decade, Blair said.

It鈥檚 clear that talent is equally distributed but opportunity is not, said Multiverse鈥檚 U.S. general manager Sophie Ruddock.

鈥淲e have a strong social mission, but this is also good for business,鈥� Ruddock said, adding that diverse workforces drive better business outcomes.

led the round, with participation from investors including , , 听, , , CEO , Chairman John W. Thompson, and Executive Chairman .

With the new funding, the company will be focusing on expanding into the United States. New York will be the U.S. headquarters and the company is planning on setting up regional hubs in cities including Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta. Future cities will be determined by employer demand, Ruddock said.

The company will also be investing in expanding its career pathways, Blair said. Data analysis apprenticeships, for example, have been very popular, so the company is planning on expanding there.

Multiverse currently has about 3,000 apprentices in its program, and has about tripled in size in the past year.

The company last raised a $19 million Series A led by Index Ventures in July 2019, according to 附近上门.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias