Techstars Workforce Development Launches Second Accelerator Program

Techstars Workforce Development Accelerator—headquartered in Denver, Colorado announced its second class of startups selected to participate in the 2021 program. Ten companies and two non-profits from six states and England make up the class, with the intensive, 13-week program beginning this week.

The organizations specialize in technologies and business models to enhance the future of workforce including, but not limited to, career path discovery, navigation, and informed decision making, innovative delivery of training, competency and skill-building platforms, workforce data intelligence, social capital development, and wraparound interventions that directly change workforce outcomes for students and job seekers.

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The Techstars Workforce Development Accelerator is supported by ZOMALAB, Strada Education Network, and Colorado Thrives. These supporters play an integral role in the accelerator process, with the common goal of supporting and growing the startups building the future of workforce.

The 2021 cohort builds on the momentum of last year’s highly successful inaugural class, which saw teams collectively raise over $22 million in capital investment post-program with a total enterprise value of roughly $63 million. Six companies from the 2020 class have maintained a presence in Colorado, underscoring the state’s growing entrepreneurial reputation.

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Techstars Workforce Development Accelerator welcomes the following organizations as members of the 2021 class:

• Chamba: Helping Latinx job-seekers residing in the USA find jobs through tech.
• Clusiv: Creating the world’s first e-learning and accessible onboarding platform built for and by blind and visually impaired people.
• Divercity: Helping tech companies measure and track their diversity breakdown and helping them improve it by connecting them with qualified diverse talent.
• Hireguide: Plan and transcribe structured interviews with ease so you can hire the right person faster, fairer, and with certainty.
• ion Learning: A B2B SaaS enterprise peer-learning technology platform that scales and optimizes learning in small diverse groups.
• Juntos2College: The career learning platform for undocumented high school students so everyone has access to upward mobility (nonprofit).
• PeduL: Helping corporations diversify their workforce with scholarship programs.
• PitchMe: Empowering candidates to demonstrate their knowledge and abilities, allowing anyone with a relevant skill-set to apply for a position regardless of their age, formal educational background and employment history.
• Roleshare: Helping people who need to work part-time connect, combine skills and apply for exciting full-time roles together.
• ShiftUp: Building learning gyms – wraparound support & community for online learners.
• Transition: Bridging the disconnect between CNA schools and employers to better match students with jobs and career advancement.
• Watson Institute: The new university model for the world’s next entrepreneurs, thought leaders and changemakers (nonprofit).

Over the next three months, these startups will receive seed investment and mentorships through Techstars’ worldwide network of business leaders, including Denver’s business community, as well as business coaching through the program’s educational components.

The Workforce team is led by Taylor McLemore (Managing Director), Allie Schlosser (Program Manager), and Dora Iyigun (Lead Operations Associate). The team works closely with Adam Wood, Jason Cavnar and Keith Gruen (Program Team in Residence) and holds the conviction that entrepreneur-led, scalable workforce innovation is a necessary catalyst to make the workforce system work for more Americans as fast as possible. Ultimately, the program invests in startups and supports founders that enable human potential through work.

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