Waterloo’s online tech sales academy Uvaro has closed a USD $12 million Series A funding round led by White Star Capital with participation by Real Ventures and BDC Capital’s Women in Technology Venture Fund.
Launched on the cusp of the global pandemic by siblings Joseph Fung and Donna Litt alongside co-founder Derek Hall (pictured), Uvaro is a first-of-its-kind program blending training, technology and work into a single career accelerator for tech sales. It is uniquely suited to solve the single biggest challenge facing North America’s tech sector — access to well-trained, work-ready talent.
Uvaro will use the capital to rapidly scale up the company’s programming and deliver enhanced services for members aimed at creating ongoing career success.
By leveraging a 12-week curriculum built on the dataset of sales playbooks used by 20,000+ sales professionals, Uvaro members ramp up in one-third the time and achieve 50% more quota than their counterparts.
Since launching online in January 2020, Uvaro’s sales academy has produced 300+ grads with an 80% job placement rate, with members often experiencing up to a 120% increase in annual salary.
The company’s deferred tuition model and scholarship fund lower the barriers to entry to career change that disproportionately affect women of colour and newcomers.
“The tech sector is the fastest-growing segment of our economy and is expected to hire more than 250,000 individuals, with revenue-generating roles representing a significant proportion of this number,” says Joseph Fung, CEO of Uvaro.
“With the shift to hybrid and remote work, every employer is now tech-enabled. As a result, demand for our grads is through the roof. Our unique acceleration model is highly tuned to the needs of today’s job-seekers, employers and the future of work.”