Ramped Closes $3.1 Million Seed Round to Close the Gap Between Employers and Job Seekers

• Skill-sharpening technology platform optimizes the job search in an effort to improve hiring outcomes and retention

Ramped, the leading technology provider for job skilling and recruitment, has closed a $3.1 million seed round of financing, with participation from Hustle Fund, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Workplay Ventures, Vastly Viable Ventures, Eudemian Ventures, ETF@JFFLabs, Graph Ventures, and Operate VC. The use of proceeds will focus on sales and marketing, and an expansion of the product’s capabilities.

Founded in 2020, Ramped is a career discovery and job skilling platform to help job seekers attain credentials and experience coveted by top employers. The digital marketplace, which brings more transparency during the hiring process, has experienced a higher volume of usage during the pandemic and ‘Great Resignation’ period of late 2021.

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“Today’s job market is battle-tested and weary, but ready to tackle new challenges on the other side of the pandemic,” said Ramped Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Manoj Jonna. “Our investors are true partners who also believe the job search is antiquated and can create false expectations. It’s our goal to leverage this new capital to build a community of empowered, highly-qualified job seekers who can match with top employers in need of a more efficient barometer for evaluating talent.”

Industry data suggests that the average applicant mass applies to 65 openings before securing a quality job. Ramped members, with access to the platform’s skill-based compatibility scale, average five applications per job, a 13x better success rate. The platform allows users to augment their learning and gain new functional job skills to optimize their search process.

“We recognize there is a need to reimagine the job search process for a new generation and an evolving workforce. Ramped is meeting that need head on, helping candidates develop the skills and qualifications that are desired by top employers, like Northwestern Mutual,” said Craig Schedler, Managing Director of Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures. “We are thrilled to be a part of this industry realignment to help more job seekers grow and excel in their careers.”

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Ramped has attracted thousands of job seekers and has aligned with more than 125 top corporate partners, including Fortune 500 companies and leading tech ‘unicorns’. One of the company’s key differentiators is its appeal to diverse candidates from wide-ranging backgrounds, including 64% of job seekers who identify as “diverse” or “minority”.

“We are a career-first platform that is proud to serve one of the most highly-trained generations of workers in economic history,” said Ramped Co-Founder Danny Leonard. “You always hear that finding a full-time job is a full-time job, but that doesn’t have to be the case anymore. It’s time to make the process more rewarding, efficient, and beneficial to early-and-mid-career job seekers who have already experienced a lot of rejection from the market.”

Also participating in the round were several angel investors. Ramped will look to expand its team over the next several months and has the ability to double its workforce by the end of 2022 to meet demand and support customer success.

“47 million Americans quit their jobs in 2021 – I’d say that’s a tectonic shift in the workforce,” said Ramped Co-Founder Mitch DeForest. “Ramped is in the pole position among companies focused on mobility and career discovery, as job seekers prioritize the benefits – and brands – that will serve them best in 2022 and beyond.”