Multiverse, an online jobs portal for apprenticeship seekers founded by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s son Euan Blair, has recently raised $220 million in a Series D round.
The funding brings the company’s total valuation to $1.7 billion, making it becomes Europe’s latest EdTech unicorn. The round was led by existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst, alongside Stepstone Group. Founders Circle Capital, Audacious Ventures, BOND, D1 Capital Partners, GV, and Index Ventures also participated in the round.
Multiverse has last raised $130 million in its Series C round in September last year, valuing the company at $875 million at that time.
Founded in 2016, Multiverse connects companies with young people looking for apprenticeships. The apprenticeships are tuition-free and salaried, last 12-15 months, and are in areas including software engineering, digital marketing, and data analytics. Alongside the apprenticeship, people receive training from Multiverse.
Multiverse’s mission is to create a diverse group of future leaders by building an outstanding alternative to university and corporate training. To achieve this, the company provides high-quality apprenticeship programs that combine work, training, and community. Since its inception, the startup claims to have run over 8,000 apprenticeships globally, with 90% of apprentices remaining with their employer after the programme has ended.
The company will use the new funding to expand its presence in the US, where it launched in January 2021. Outside of the UK, Multiverse is only active in the US. It works with Cisco, Google, Verizon, and Box in America. The company hasn’t expanded into the rest of Europe.
The cost of university education in the US makes it a ripe opportunity for Multiverse. According to the company, two-thirds of people don’t have a college degree there but 65% of jobs require them to. The company hopes apprenticeships can solve that gap.
Multiverse has claimed that over 50 percent of apprentices hired by them are from underrepresented ethnic backgrounds, 53 percent are women and a third come from the UK’s most deprived postcodes.
