ALL-STAR ASSIST: Guild Education is getting an assist from an NBA All-Star adept at dishing them out. Stephen Curry, of the professional basketball team Golden State Warriors, has invested in the Denver-based startup, which partners with universities to provide employees at major companies with opportunities to access higher education at little or no cost.
The investment was made through SC30, the firm that manages Curry’s business and philanthropic activities, and announced last week at TechCrunch Disrupt, a technology conference in San Francisco.
“SC30 invested outside of a formal round, joining as both an investor and partner of Guild in September of 2019,” said Guild spokeswoman Ricki Eshman in an email. “Given Stephen’s commitment to closing the education gap, which is also exhibited through the Eat, Learn, Play Foundation that he founded with his wife Ayesha, we were excited to partner together to help more working adults pursue a postsecondary degree.”
Founded in 2015, the company has worked with employers including Chipotle, Disney, Discover Financial and Walmart to offer “education as a benefit” opportunities to their workers. Guild claims that more than 30,000 employees have participated in programs that offer high school GEDs and bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Neither Guild nor SC30 disclosed the financial details of Curry’s investment. To date, Guild has raised $71.5 million. Prior to this announcement, its most recent fundraise was a $40 million Series C round in June 2018.
