Welcome, Uplimit!
perspectives / Portfolio

Welcome, Uplimit!

The end-to-end AI-powered learning platform.

Claudine Emeott, Adrianna Alterman and Lauryn Poyser
July 23, 2024
  • Founders: Julia Stiglitz, Sourabh Bajaj, Jake Samuelson
  • Sector: Workforce Development
  • Location: San Mateo, CA

The Opportunity

AI has created an unprecedented need for new professional skills, and the education market is currently ill-equipped to handle the demand. According to Harvard Business Review, executives estimate that 40% of their workforce will need to reskill as a result of AI and automation over the next three years. At the same time, 75% of workers say they don’t know how to acquire the skills their employers will require in the future. This gap exists because current solutions are either inaccessible, slow-moving, or have low engagement. 

For instance, workers can seek out graduate and certificate programs in AI and ML from accredited institutions, but these courses are often prohibitively expensive. The rapid pace of innovation in AI and ML also makes it difficult for self-taught individuals to keep up. Further, reskilling platforms often suffer from low engagement and completion rates, according to Forbes

If we as a society are to realize artificial intelligence’s enormous potential, we’ll need a new high-quality adult learning resource that can help today’s workers transition to an AI-enabled future. 

The Solution

Uplimit is pioneering a new approach to scaling effective enterprise education. Their end-to-end solution uses AI to supercharge authoring, learner support, and course management, so companies no longer have to choose between impact and scale. The platform enables companies to train their employees and customers on the skills of tomorrow. Customers use Uplimit to dramatically scale their learning programs, relying on AI-powered learner support features, a generative AI content creation engine, and live cohort management tools to decrease costs while improving outcomes. 

Focusing on individuals and organizations worldwide, Uplimit aims to surpass traditional learning limitations and achieve exceptional outcomes at scale. The company is harnessing AI to deliver affordable and effective professional education.

Why We’re Backing Uplimit

We believe Uplimit is the platform that will help individuals and companies access the skills of the future for several reasons. 

It starts with the founding team. CEO Julia Stiglitz was among the first hires at Coursera, and she built and scaled their enterprise business from zero to well over a thousand customers. Most recently, she left her role as a partner at top-tier ed-tech fund GSV Ventures to start Uplimit because she recognized an opportunity for major disruption in the ed-tech market. Her co-founder and CTO, Sourabh Bajaj, was previously an ML Lead at Google. Rounding out the founding team is Jake Samuelson, who brings years of product experience at companies like Wayfair and Coursera. This trio brings a unique and powerful combination of AI expertise, enterprise GTM experience, and ed-tech chops to Uplimit. 

Uplimit is also already seeing traction in the market. They’ve signed several large enterprise contracts with organizations like GE Health, Procore, and Kraft Heinz, and are seeing 75-80% completion rates on their courses — an extremely positive outlier in the edtech market.

Finally, Uplimit is entering the market at an ideal time. Only 4% of the global $6T education market is digitized today. Nearly all large enterprises are grappling with the opportunities and risks of AI for their workforces, and Uplimit is quickly becoming a trusted partner and solution within this context. Uplimit has proven to be able to upskill employees and customers on AI in a scalable fashion, and the team is receiving tremendous interest as a result.

What’s Ahead?

Learning is a lifelong journey woven into the fabric of every career. We’re excited to support Uplimit to reimagine what outcomes can be for those upskilling on AI and other skills of the future.

We’re also excited about the potential value we can deliver to Uplimit. Their organization is already partnering with other members of the Salesforce Ventures’ portfolio, including Databricks. We foresee many potential opportunities for partnerships internally within Salesforce and across our broader ecosystem of partners.

Welcome to Salesforce Ventures, Uplimit!