London-based FourthRev is a new edtech startup, which bridges the gap between universities and businesses to address the gap in digital skills. The company just announced £2.3M in a round led by Reach Capital along with existing investors Emerge Education and Dunce Capital and angel investors including US education executive Craig Pines and Charlie Songhurst, former Head of Corporate Strategy at Microsoft.
Reach Capital is a US-based education specialist VC whose portfolio includes educational trailblazers Handshake, Class Dojo and Outschool. This investment round comes after the pre-seed fundraising round of £450K in February 2020 by the company founders Jack Hylands and Omar de Silva.
Plans for rapid expansion
Headquartered in London, FourthRev intends to use the investment for rapid expansion. Currently, the company is in discussion with nearly 20 organisations and plans to double the number of higher education partners they work with in the next 12-18 months.
Jack Hylands, Co-Founder of FourthRev commented, “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.”
Shauntel Garvey, General Partner at Reach Capital, said, “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. 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.”
Jan Lynn-Matern, founder and partner of Emerge Education added, “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.”
Teams up with leading universities
Founded by Jack Hylands and Omar de Silva in 2019, FourthRev has partnered with some of the world’s biggest tech companies including AWS, GitHub and Tableau, and top universities to create learning experiences that offer a direct pathway to qualifications and employment in the digital economy. Currently, FourthRev courses are available via 11 higher educational providers worldwide including University of Coventry and FutureLearn, RMIT, University of Canberra and University of California, Irvine.