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March 29, 2024
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Academy raises £3m to train next generation of tech talent

Academy, a London-based startup that trains talent and leadership roles for the UK tech industry, has raised $4m (£3m) in a seed funding round that was backed by current and former executives from Microsoft, Facebook, Slack, Farfetch and GoCardless.

The round was led by UK venture capital firm LocalGlobe, with participation from seed investing firm Emerge Education.

Founded in 2020, the Academy platform aims to attract, train and accelerate a new diverse generation of tech leaders. The startup is working with ambitious tech talent and companies modelled on the career trajectories of its angel investors such as Ric Lewis (chair of the Black Heart Foundation), Angie Ma (chief people officer at Faculty) and Wing Chan (former CTO of THG).

It selects the top 0.5% of talent for its training courses from any university degree background. This makes it more selective than Google, and ten times more competitive than Harvard, Academy claims.

Among the companies working with the startup to find and accelerate future tech leaders are portfolio companies from Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures and Y Combinator – along with rapidly growing public companies like Soho House.

Building future tech leaders 

Ashley Ramrachia, ex-chief people officer at THG, used his experience at the Manchester-based e-commerce company to build Academy. Ramrachia has worked on the “merit over means” strategy model to convert high-potential into high-performance in tech, with an open door to anybody with the right aptitude, regardless of experience.

“Too many of the most talented individuals are not able to access careers in technology – creating a talent bottleneck for the whole of the tech industry,” said Ramrachia, CEO and founder of Academy. “If we are to build a globally successful tech industry then we need the best people starting their careers in technology at fast-growing companies – the exact talent blueprint that drove THG to its multi-billion dollar success. This funding round will help Academy to create that common talent and leadership infrastructure for the most ambitious companies.”

The startup is promoting social mobility by demonstrating that high performance doesn’t come at the cost of diversity. Of the 0.5% of successful candidates, over 50% are female, over 60% are from minority ethnic backgrounds, and 30% identify as Black.

Cutting through economic barriers, its training programme is zero-tuition, grant-funded and remote-first, making it accessible to anybody with an internet connection.

By drawing non-traditional backgrounds into tech, the edtech company is building an infrastructure and community of future leaders in tech that has traditionally been the exclusive preserve of the consulting, banking and accounting industries.

Academy has enlisted trainees who have turned down or left graduate roles at BCG, Citibank and Deloitte, alongside others with backgrounds in entrepreneurship, law and public sector work.

Saul Klein, co-founder of LocalGlobe, said: “Academy has put together an inspirational team of executives who have first-hand experience of recruiting for some of the world’s best tech companies at scale, and for developing talent that takes those companies to the next level.  Academy graduates are the future leaders of the tech sector’s best companies.”

The post Academy raises £3m to train next generation of tech talent appeared first on UKTN | UK Tech News |.

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