Solution

BuildEd secures career success for anyone regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances by fundamentally aligning their work to Value created. BuildEd’s platform and training is currently offered in 90 locations across 36 markets, enjoys a 90%+ partner renewal rate, and maintains an NPS of 94.

Product / service

Platform – BuildEd has developed the Value Operating System™, a proprietary framework for individuals, educators, and employers to define and measure Value in the workplace, driving career ownership, performance, and growth. In every position, industry, and level, there are Four Dimensions of Value™. When defined, measured, and trained, performance, contribution, retention, and growth follow.

Training – BuildEd has developed Career Performance Training™, a new category of training that fills the gap. In just five hours, participants learn how work works, acquire a powerful career strategy to succeed and adopt a simple and effective system to execute that strategy. When combined with other training or support, it increases engagement, completion, job placement, performance, retention, and income growth.

Projected impact

BuildEd’s impact stems from helping more people find successful careers that go beyond a living wage – allowing them to no longer require outside assistance. The potential impact extends well beyond the program participants to their families, communities, and future generations. 

This impact is measured in terms of participant increases in job placement rate (+30% estimated), job retention (+60%), and wage growth (+20% in the first 18 months).

The second-order effects of this impact include: 

• Savings in social assistance programs 

• Increased economic activity and development in underserved areas 

• Greater workforce diversity 

Theory of change

Traditional education and training are focused on knowledge and skills, not performance. Additionally, when these traditional programs conclude, participants are left to fend for themselves as they attempt to build their careers. As a result, it’s easy to feel unmotivated, negatively impacting performance and retention.

BuildEd addresses this gap in career outcomes and creates true value-added employees. By focusing on developing a participant’s mindset, teaching critical frameworks, and providing ongoing support, BuildEd enhances job performance and career sustainability. 

Ultimately, BuildEd’s mission is to remove barriers to growth and prosperity, ensuring individuals can thrive regardless of their starting point. The key to improving lives is to go beyond skill-building and teach participants how work works and what drives success.

Beneficiaries

• At-risk youth (including high-school dropouts)

• At-risk adults (including unemployed & underemployed)

• Food stamp recipients

• Disabled

• Justice-involved 

• Veterans

Traction

BuildEd’s platform and training is currently offered in 90 locations across 36 markets, enjoys a 90%+ partner renewal rate, with almost every partner significantly increasing their financial commitment, and maintains an NPS of 94. BuildEd has trained over 7,500 individuals and has seen a 284% increase in monthly revenue in 2023.

Business model

BuildEd operates on a set license model with workforce boards. Each seat license is $965 per person.

Market & competition

Employers, government funders, and educational training agencies come together to make up what is commonly referred to as “Workforce Development”. This is a two-part marketplace serving both individuals and employers in need. Individuals who qualify for social services are provided support and educational training, usually at no cost to them. 

There are 598 Workforce Boards that spend $200B supporting and educating 4 million people in all 3,143 counties in the US. BuildEd’s Total Addressable Market (TAM) within Workforce Development is $3 billion. The employer market represents an exponentially larger opportunity, reportedly spending $304 billion per year on training.

BuildEd is unique within education technology but could be compared to coaching and skills training companies like CoachHub, Sharpist, BetterUp, Reforge, eduMe, and Interplay Learning. Unlike these companies, BuildEd combines digital coaching with a unified training philosophy on building a successful career. This combination far exceeds the impact and value that a skill-building or coach matchmaking service alone can offer. 
Coaching

• CoachHub – digital coaching, lacks a unified platform and training philosophy. Costs $300-650/user/month. 
• Sharpist – digital coaching, lacks a unified platform and training philosophy. $250+/user/month
• BetterUp – digital coaching, lacks a unified platform and training philosophy. $89/session.

Skills Training

• Reforge – guides and courses for tech skills, no coaching or career support. $2,000+/user/year.
• eduMe – short-form training videos for frontline workers, no coaching or career support. $350/month. 
• Interplay Learning – hard skills training. $54/user/month. 

Vision & strategy

At BuildEd, we are laser-focused on providing what has been missing: foundational understanding, career strategy, and a system for focused action that creates immediate outcomes and turns jobs into launchpads for careers, independence, and thriving. 

With our category-defining training platform, we’ve established a strong reputation in the workforce development market and plan to fully expand our market share over the next few years. We’ll then focus on scaling to the broader employer training market, which presents an exponentially larger opportunity.