Technology

Posted on January 13, 2020 by staff

$14.1m funding for EdTech Jolt

Technology

Jolt has secured $14.1 million funding.

The London-based EdTech firm is aiming to disrupt higher education with its pay-as-you-go MBA program.

The latest round of funding has been led by Balderton Capital, alongside Hillsven Capital and Octopus Ventures.

In total, the start-up has raised $23.3m and plans to use the latest funding to further its expansion across the UK, Israel and into the US.

The company was founded in 2015 by entrepreneurs Roei Deutsch, Nitzan Cohen-Arazi and Nadav Leshem, who were disillusioned by the current higher education system and falling student numbers.

The three founders used their past experiences in alternative training and education programs to launch Jolt’s live video courses marketplace in 2016.

Since then the business has created digital classrooms within existing co-working spaces, connecting students and lecturers from around the world via live video and the Jolt app.

“Higher education is in a bubble in which a staggering $2.3 trillion is invested every year in something that works for a small minority of people,” explained CEO Roei Deutsch.

“Data shows more than three quarters of graduates believe many higher education programs are no longer fit for purpose; trust and confidence in academia have nosedived in recent years, and the number of applications for MBA courses across most major establishments has fallen.”

Jolt is designed for young professionals eager to switch or accelerate their careers, but who can’t afford the tuition or time required by a traditional masters program.

The start-up offers a modular, self-designed, pay-as-you-go curriculum, with courses taught by global business leaders from business brains from the likes of Google, Netflix, and Tesla.

A Jolt NAMBA (‘Not An MBA’) programme costs £175 a month, or £4,500 in total. The program is 18 times cheaper than the London Business School and has surpassed it in student enrolment.

Since launching its first campus two years ago, Jolt now has three sites in London in Shoreditch, Soho and Liverpool Street, seven across Israel, and is finalising plans to launch campuses in Manhattan in 2020.