A new digital resource has arisen to help high school and university students navigate the process of establishing their career path. With $2.6 million in seed funding, Chicago startup Upkey is continuing toward its goal of making a positive impact on the professional lives of a diverse array of students.
Upkey’s edtech platform offers a suite of tools such as resume-building, pitch development and interview prep aimed at supporting the professional development of Gen Z and Millennial students. These tools are free to use, as are Upkey’s other resources including virtual classes and internships with several universities and companies. The programs feature speakers from UCLA Anderson, Stanford Business, Google and more, according to the company’s website.
Individuals from low-income households, the LGBTQ+ community, minority backgrounds and first-generation students are largely underrepresented on college and university campuses. As of today, 70 percent of Upkey’s users fit into this category of underrepresented individuals as minority and first-generation students.
The funding round led by S3 Ventures will help the startup grow and scale its operations to be able to serve even more students. It’s also planning to provide companies with a larger pool of diverse talent. To help achieve this goal, the company is looking to open an office in Austin.
Upkey also announced the launch of its new dashboard tool, which serves as a career map customized per a student’s specific needs and goals. The career pathing process has potential to be confusing and stressful, so this tool incorporates gamification principles into its interactive modules, giving students the chance to earn ranks and badges as a way to help make professional growth more fun.
“Over the past year, nearly 100,000 students have benefited from Upkey career preparation tools,” Amir Badr, the startup’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Our mission is to level the playing field so that every student has the opportunity for support and training to reach their goals while giving organizations access to qualified candidates ready to take on new and varied challenges.”
Currently, Upkey employs 20 people, a company representative told Built In. In the coming months, it’s looking to hire five to eight new team members in the areas of enterprise partnerships, sales, SEO and growth marketing.
