Interview Kickstart raises $10 million to help tech workers uplevel via programmes spanning skills like AI

Education platform, Interview Kickstart, which is used by engineers to level up and secure careers in the technology companies, has raised a $10 million funding round from Blume Ventures, the firm’s largest opening investment to date.

Interview Kickstart says that it has been profitable for several years, having trained over 20,000 professionals through its programmes spanning AI, machine learning, data science, engineering, and product management. 

Graduates have landed top jobs at companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix, AirBnB, Uber, Apple, Lyft and LinkedIn. The funding will be used to establish Interview Kickstart's position as the largest player in the US market and help it expand its platform globally. 

Interview Kickstart has seen its customers get job offers over $250,000, with the highest compensation received being over $1.2 million. In several instances, these people have seen their compensation double after leveling up through Kickstart’s courses designed and taught by a pool of 500+ instructors from FAANG companies (Facebook/Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google and other top tier tech companies). Additionally, courses are offered in new disciplines such as Gen AI.

Interview Kickstart was founded by Soham Mehta (formerly with Box, eBay and Microsoft) and Ryan Valles (formerly with Accel Partners and CEO of dealsandyou.com). 

Their mission was to build a platform allowing software engineers to keep pace with the industry and reach the highest bar in their careers, securing jobs at tech companies with 2% - 5% application acceptance rates. 

Valles comments: “There is a power law at play for jobs. Top tech companies pay two to three times as much as others and offer massive wealth-creating opportunities via stock option plans. Interview Kickstart, with our instructors and partners, aims to help working tech professionals prepare for these compelling opportunities. For instance, a working professional, Christian, recently got an offer of $380k at a FAANG company, which was more than double what he earned before going through Interview Kickstart. Our constant focus on profitability and strong unit economics, along with this growth investment from Blume, will help us amplify and expand this mission.”   

Mehta says: “In a world where Big Tech is the force behind the rapid pace of tech innovation, including the significant platform shift that Generative AI brings about, there has never been a more substantial need for the 22 million software engineers worldwide to focus on building the essential skills that are emerging out of top tech companies to stay relevant and Level Up. Interview Kickstart is uniquely poised to dominate that enormous opportunity.”

Karthik Reddy, Managing Partner at Blume Ventures, says: "Interview Kickstart presented a unique opportunity. The company has been bootstrapped and profitable for several years and the founders have built an incredible proposition and community. The investment is a testament to our belief in Interview Kickstart's mission and track record of delivering career shifting impact to professionals. They’ve had a huge impact on professionals arming themselves with new skills and opportunities to thrive in the fiercely competitive tech industry. Soham and Ryan are well placed to scale this to become one the greatest scale stories of the decade.”