A local online data upskilling school will compete as semifinalist in the world’s largest pitch competition for edtech startups.
For its innovative cohort-based learning experiences that help individuals and teams upskill, Eskwelabs has been included in the “Elite 200” of this year’s Global Silicon Valley (GSV) Cup. The edtech startup was selected from a global applicant pool of more than 900 startups across 69 countries, representing the largest and most competitive applicant pool for the GSV Cup.
More than 200 judges from leading venture capital firms and strategic partners in digital learning and workforce skills — including Accel, Bessemer Venture Partners, Blume Ventures, ECMC Group, NEA, Pear, Owl Ventures, and Reach Capital, among others — leveraged a rigorous framework to evaluate each startup and determine the 200 most promising companies in digital learning across the “Pre-K to Gray” space, or the spectrum of lifelong learning.
“What we hear from managers today is that there is simply too much to learn and not enough time for formal training. As companies emerge from the pandemic, there’s mounting pressure to deliver performance and to develop its people. However, methods like self-paced courses that put the onus on the worker fail to deliver with only a small number of learners completing courses. And as remote work increases, teams are becoming more diverse and geographically distributed and that is making it even harder for managers to address skills gaps,” Angela Chen-Delantar, chief executive officer of Eskwelabs, said.
Eskwelabs is a pioneer in building live cohort-based learning experiences and communities that upskill people with work-like projects. Rooted in coaching and empathy, its mentor-driven way of learning improves capabilities, learning, and culture in the workplace.
Its flagship programs include the Data Science Fellowship, an elite 12-week program for those who are serious about working as data scientists in the future, and the Data Analytics Bootcamp, an 8-week program focused on teaching data analytics, data wrangling, data visualization, and data storytelling to anyone who wants to work with data using tools like Excel, PowerBI, and SQL.
“We believe that cohort-based learning has the potential of creating collision moments for hybrid teams to come together and deepen connections which are proven to increase retention and engagement. We are at a unique moment where digital players can exceed the expectations of what learning in the workplace can provide as workplaces become the new classroom so we’re excited to be a part of the Pre-K to Gray movement that GSV champions,” Ms. Chen-Delantar added.
The GSV Cup is part of the ASU+GSV Summit, the premier global event focused on technology innovation in education and skills. Started in 2010 with a collaboration between Arizona State University (ASU) and GSV Ventures, the annual summit connects leading minds focused on transforming society and business around learning and work. The GSV Cup is powered by GSV Ventures, Google Cloud, HolonIQ, HubSpot for Startups, and ASU RealmSpark.
“Our GSV Cup semifinalists epitomize our 2023 theme, ‘Brave New World.’ You can’t use old maps to navigate a new world. These 200 companies are charting new courses and drawing new maps to achieve the scaled delivery of learning and skills. We all hope to achieve the mission that all people deserve equal access to the future through the innovations of these great founders,” said Deborah Quazzo, managing partner of GSV Ventures and co-founder of the ASU+GSV Summit.
The Elite 200 companies selected as semifinalists in this year’s competition support learners from Pre-K to Gray, and are well-distributed across the categories of Early Childhood, K-12, Higher Education, Adult Consumer Learning, and Workforce Learning.
In addition, 43% of this year’s Elite 200 companies are headquartered outside of the United States. 52% of companies have female founders, while 48% of companies have founders that identify as people of color.
