Remote work has become a barrier for many workers, and now Virtual Internships is doing the same for university students around the world by partnering with more than 12,000 companies from 100 countries. The edtech startup today announced a $14.3 million Series A round led by Hambro Perks, along with Sequoia India and Southeast Asia Surge, Arsenal Growth, Kaplan, Ascend Vietnam Ventures and STIC Investments.
Virtual Internships uses AI to match students with internships at companies ranging from startups to blue chips and confirms the match within a month. The host companies include AWS, Carrefour, Dentons, GAM Investments, Asian Development Bank and Bio Pharm Dongsung.
More than 70% of interns work directly with founders or C-suite executives, and the platform trains students before and during internships through CareerBridge, an employability course. They have access to weekly check-ins, group discussions, webinars, and coaching calls in the middle and at the end of their internship. About 25% of students who complete an internship through the platform are invited to continue working with their respective companies, and 70% are employed full-time within three months of their internship.
CEO Daniel Nivern told TechCrunch that work experience is the most important factor for job-seeking graduates, but fewer than 80 million of the world’s 260 million higher education students are taking on internships. This has left many students feeling that their universities have not provided them with enough career support. But geography and time commitments keep many top career experiences out of reach.
“Virtual Internships solves all these barriers and more by providing all students around the world with access to globally integrated internships that they can do anytime, anywhere,” he said. “It allows employers to create global talent pipelines, and universities or governments can support specific audiences, ensuring improved employment outcomes and better ROI.”
Prior to founding Virtual Internships, Nivern and co-founder Edward Holroyd Pearce started CRCC Asia in 2006 to help students find internships in Asia and grew the business to more than 10,000 students. In the year In 2018, they realized that there is a huge market of students who want to do international internships and created Virtual Internships to help them find places, wherever they are.
Since its inception, Virtual Internship has grown its revenue from $100,000 in the 2019/2020 fiscal year to $4.1 million in 2021/2022 and is expected to reach $10 million in 2023. Most of the revenue comes from universities that add virtual internships. Curriculum. It also collaborates with government and university road programs.
Nivern’s competitors include venture-backed companies like Forage, which offer five- to six-hour virtual internship programs. Training programs platform Multiverse; And Riipen, organizes company competitions and students to complete with the help of faculties. Virtual Internships partner with universities and governments to offer guaranteed work experience with a high chance of leading to a job.
The company will use the new funding to grow its product and engineering teams. It plans to add to its partnership development teams in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, along with emerging markets such as the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.
Nivern said Virtual Internship will focus on increasing and employability outcomes by further enhancing the matching process and working on a post-internship employment portal that allows companies to find potential employees from a database of students and graduates.
“Virtual internships are addressing the needs of a more digital world of work and providing opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to be part of a globalized economy,” Hambro Perks managing director Nicholas Sharp said in a statement. “The global network the team is creating through the platform – with customers, teams and investors around the world – is unique and exciting, and we’re excited to support them in their next phase of growth.”
