Guild Education, a platform that makes university programs available to workforces, raised USD 150 million in Series E funding with Bessemer Venture Partners, Cowboy Ventures, D1, Emerson Collective, General Catalyst, GSV, Harrison Metal, ICONIQ, Redpoint, and Salesforce Ventures participating. The new funding round raises the company’s valuation to USD 3.75 billion from USD 1 billion during its previous funding round in November 2019.

The funds will be used to expand Guild Education’s coaching team, add more short-term certificate courses to its learning marketplaces, and increase its efforts to partner with historically Black colleges and universities.

Founded in 2015 by Rachel Carlson and Brittany Stich, Guild Education partners with businesses, non-profits, and universities to offer education as a benefit in the form of online classes, programs, and degrees from more than 80 universities. Companies may provide their employees with partial or full tuition support to upskill or earn a degree. Guild works with employers to select programs that are most relevant to its employees, earning a percentage of the fees paid to the universities. The universities then save the expense and effort involved in marketing and recruitment. The company also provides its own support and mentoring services to help students plan, apply for, and finish their programs. As of November 2019, about 400,000 working adults joined the program, around 3%-5% of employees at partner companies. As of May 2020, the Guild Education platform offered more than 1,600 online degree programs, and as of June 2021, the company’s co-founder estimated that more than 4 million Americans have access to the platform through their employer.