Startup Institute, an immersive career accelerator geared toward cultivating startup-savvy talent, has announced a partnership with Silicon Valley Bank and an investment by SVB Financial Group of $3 million, to support worldwide expansion of its offices and programmess.
Startup Institute launched its first programme in 2012 to help startups find employees who could help their companies grow. The founders, including Katie Rae, founder of SI and Chairman of Techstars Boston, observed startup candidates had the “hard” skills, but failed to contribute when hired by startups because they were disoriented and failed to understand how high growth innovative companies work. The founding team thought this was a fixable problem and sought to create a talent pipeline for high-growth startups.
According to an annual study by Silicon Valley Bank, while 77% of innovation companies globally reported plans to hire in 2014, 91% said it is extremely or somewhat challenging to find workers with the skills they need. About 60% said their biggest challenges in hiring are related to experience, skills and education.
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 programmes and our expansion into more cities in the US and across Europe.”
Additionally, Startup Institute also announced partnerships with London-based startups Hailo, Geckoboard and Toothpick. These London partners will provide classes to the inaugural London class, which launches on 6 October. 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.
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