Modal raises $25M to train corporate workers on data and AI

A few years ago, Darren Shimkus, former president of Udemy, had a conversation with Dennis Yang about upskilling.

Shimkus believed that upskilling in the business sector was a difficult, but not insoluble, challenge – one that perhaps could be solved with the right technology. He talked to Yang, who had been CEO of Udemy, about it.

“At Udemy, Yang and I solved the problem of ‘access’ to learning: anyone at any company can find great video content on the skills they want to learn,” said Shimkus at TechCrunch. “But it turns out that solving video access alone isn’t enough.”

One thing led to another, and soon Shimkus and Yang had a new startup on their hands: Modal.

Modal provides personalized technical training to a company’s staff, offering on-demand coaching and an educational approach that groups users into semi-structured online learning communities.

“Our offering assesses each member of a team, identifies gaps in their skills, and creates a personalized plan for each team member that minimizes the “skills risk” businesses face when achieving their strategic goals “, explained Shimkus. “We support all kinds of goals: modernization efforts, digital transformation and even training new employees resulting from an acquisition. »

The upskilling market is a crowded space, occupied by startups like GrowthSpace, Learnsoft, Pollen, Scaler, Workera and others. So how does Modal plan to make a splash?

According to Shimkus, first of all, focusing on current trends: data and AI. Modal’s initial set of e-learning courses focuses exclusively on the latter, which seems like a wise strategic choice given the current market.

“The rise of AI brings more visibility to data teams than ever before,” Shimkus said. “Expectations have skyrocketed, and many teams are realizing they need to rapidly develop their AI capabilities, general technical acumen, and even business skills.

The second advantage of Modal is its focus on real-world applications, Shimkus says. As learners progress through Modal’s courses, the coach they’re paired with helps them contextualize and understand key concepts, Shimkus says.

“From a learner perspective, our inclusion of applied practices and coaching really sets us apart from traditional online learning platforms,” Shimkus continued. “We believe that our direct competitors are relatively few. »

This seems like an effective selling point. Modal, which only charges companies when a staff member completes a course, currently has more than 100 customers, the majority from the Fortune 1000, according to Shimkus.

Modal recently raised $25 million in a funding round led by Left Lane Capital, bringing the total raised to $32 million. The company now plans to expand its team to “support inbound demand and expand Modal’s offering to organizations around the world.”

“We have been fortunate that the rise of generative AI has sparked a crucial need for upskilling in businesses: no one can afford to miss out on transforming their teams and businesses,” said Shimkus said. “In today’s ever-changing business landscape, it’s difficult to predict what your teams need, which means most leaders don’t have a reliable way to plan and improve their team’s skills. team. Modal is designed for this scenario.