The company run by Euan Blair has become the UK’s first EdTech unicorn after being valued at £1.37 billion ($1.7bn) in its latest funding round. Multiverse, an apprenticeship business offering an alternative to the university career path, secured £175 million in funding, doubling its valuation in eight months and earning it a place among Britain’s unicorns.
It is understood that Mr Blair, the son of former prime minister Sir Tony Blair, has a stake of between 25 per cent and 50 per cent in the business, which means that on paper he is worth up to £677m.
“There has never been a more pressing time to create an alternative to university education that is equitable and inclusive and there is an incredible opportunity before us to change the status quo with apprenticeships,” the Multiverse chief executive said.
“This funding will help us bring more people without degrees or in need of re-skilling into tech careers and ultimately create a more diverse group of future leaders.”
Euan Blair was made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for services to education in Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday Honours.
He co-founded the group in 2016 with the aim of matching young adults and those looking to reskill with apprenticeships and the company now works with more than 500 businesses worldwide.
It offers an alternative to university as the path to a tech career and has helped more than 8,000 secure apprenticeships.
The latest funding injection came from US investment firm StepStone Group, after previous investments from Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst.
Multiverse aims to use the money to expand further across the US, where it launched in January last year.
Multiverse’s president Jeremy Duggan said: “The journey so far has been characterised not only by rapid growth, but also by creating a real and actionable solution to the challenges of diversity in the workplace.”
The group says that 56 per cent of the apprentices it has placed are not white, more than half are women and 34 per cent come from economically under-served communities.
Two thirds of Americans do not have a college or university degree.
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