Digital learning provider FourthRev has raised £2.3 million in its seed fundraising round, which it will use to continue to expand globally.
The online curriculum provider collaborates with universities, technology companies and employers to deliver specialist learning for students requiring skills to flourish in the digital economy.
Courses focus on technical and transferable skills across fields including Data Analytics, Cloud Architecture, Development and Operation and Platform and Software Development and Integration among others.
The funds will be used to further develop FourthRev’s online learning platform and double the size of its global team – currently 35-strong, across the UK, Australia and the US.
“Work-integrated learning solutions like FourthRev will continue to gain traction”
It has also announced plans to double its number of higher education institution partners globally – from the current 11 – in the next 12-18 months.
“It’s our hope that with this the investment, we will be able to build on our unique global partnerships and our world-class online learning experiences, to unlock the opportunities which a digital economy offers society and address this growing problem of our time,” said Jack Hylands, who is co-founder of FourthRev, alongside Omar de Silva.
US-based education specialist venture capitalist Reach Capital led the fundraising round, with existing investors Emerge Education returning for the seed round, alongside Dunce Capital.
FourthRev has secured backing from notable Angel investors including US education executive Craig Pines and Charlie Songhurst, former head of Corporate Strategy at Microsoft.
“We believe work-integrated learning solutions like FourthRev will continue to gain traction as learners seek experiences that combine academic learning with in-demand skills,” Shauntel Garvey, general partner at Reach Capital said.
“We look forward to partnering with Hylands and de Silva, whose global networks and experience across education and technology make them uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between higher education and industry.”
The “widening gap” between higher education and industry cannot be solved with rapidly scaling the breadth and depth of employer-university collaboration, founder and partner of Emerge Education Jan Lynn-Matern continued.
“FourthRev is creating a new education category at the intersection of these two stakeholder groups that has the potential to achieve this. We’re very excited to be doubling down on our investment and supporting the management team to the next step.”
Since its establishment in Melbourne in 2019, FourthRev has partnered with tech companies, including AWS, GitHub and Tableau, and its courses are currently available via 11 higher educational providers worldwide.
Partner institutions include the UK’s University of Coventry and FutureLearn, University of California, Irvine in the US, and RMIT and University of Canberra in Australia .
Reach Capital’s portfolio also includes career network for US college students Handshake, communication platform Class Dojo and K-12 online class specialist Outschool.
“Having the backing of Emerge Education and Reach Capital who are behind some of the leading innovators in our industry, confirms our approach and ambitions for growing digital skills globally,” Hylands added.
London-based investment firm Emerge Education has been building its portfolio to tackle the growing hole in contemporary work-centred skills over recent years.
