Startup Institute, an immersive career accelerator geared toward cultivating startup-savvy talent, today announced a partnership with Silicon Valley Bank and an investment by SVB of $3 million in the company to support worldwide expansion of offices and programs. The partnership will help high-growth companies in the innovation sector find qualified candidates to scale their businesses.
Today Startup Institute also announces partnerships with London-based startups Hailo, Geckoboard and Toothpick. These London partners will provide classes to the inaugural London class which launches on October 6. In return they will get access to a pool of graduates that are already familiar with their companies and ready to hit the ground running.
Hailo, Geckoboard and Toothpick now join Boughtbymany, Episode1, MassChallenge and Pivotal Labs on the roster of Startup Institute partners working with the career accelerator to develop good talent and support their growth ambitions. Instructors from Twitter and Yelp have also been signed to support the inaugural London course.
Startup Institute is also announcing the establishment of a scholarship program for 2015 designed to assist women, minorities who are under-represented in tech and innovation fields, and military veterans who want to participate in the Startup Institute curriculum. Scholarships will be applied for new applicants enrolled in the full-time programs starting in October.
Phil Cox, Head of EMEA and President of Silicon Valley Bank’s UK Branch, commented: “Through our experience and research, we know first-hand that one of the biggest challenges facing the global innovation economy is developing the talent to support growth. Since we are continuously looking for ways to help increase innovation companies’ probability of success, working with Startup Institute to address this problem is a natural fit. It gives students an on-ramp into the startup world, as well as the skills to succeed, while providing startups with access to an expanding workforce to help them scale.”
Katie Rae, Co-Founder and Chairman of Startup Institute, commented: “The response to our institutes has been humbling. The demand for this style of education has been incredible.
Growth into new markets was inevitable, and our strategic partnership with Silicon Valley Bank means we can accelerate our development of new programs and our expansion into more cities in the US and across Europe.”
