Upskilling Platform Workera Raises $16 Million

Workera, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based upskilling platform, has raised $16 million in Series A funding following a seed round of $5 million in October 2020.

The latest round, announced Aug. 26,  was led by New Enterprise Associates and existing investors Owl Ventures and AI Fund, as well as Richard Socher of AIX Ventures, Pieter Abbeel, Lake Dai and Mehran Sahami.

The company plans to use the new infusion of capital to accelerate product development and boost its go-to-market strategy. Workera helps organizations and individuals address the skills gap through a platform designed to develop technological capability in data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

"Our mission is to help humanity achieve its fullest potential by providing world-class, AI-driven mentorship at scale," said Workera CEO Kian Katanforoosh in a press release statement. "We want everyone to be able to thrive professionally and this requires precise guidance.”

The company’s platform includes assessments tailored for technical and non-technical roles, a taxonomy of over 3,000 micro-skills, and personalized learning plans.

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"As technology advances, skills need to be refreshed regularly, creating a need for new capabilities in every role and every profession," said Scott Sandell,  managing general partner at New Enterprise Associates, in the statement. "We're thrilled to partner with Workera on a promising solution to this business challenge.”

Workera clients, including Siemens Energy, Google, Facebook and Pinterest, use the platform to index their technical proficiency, customize upskilling for employees, and measure the impact of their investment.

"Workera has helped me uncover my team's strengths and discover areas for development on both an organizational and individual level. Without Workera, we would not have been able to target training as effectively, and ultimately, we wouldn't have been able to reach the outcomes we have," said Matthew Bryan, head of digital agile program management in power and gas product development at Siemens Energy.

Upskilling and reskilling have taken on increased urgency since the COVID crisis, with three quarters of employees asking for additional skill training, according to one report. 

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About the Author

Rita Pyrillis is a Chicago-based journalist writing for national consumer and trade publications. She covers a variety of business topics with specialities in health care and workplace issues.