UK education start-up Greenworkx takes aim at ‘green jobs emergency’ after £600k fundraise
Greenworkx raises cash from consortium of investors looking to support UK green jobs revolution, with particular focus on energy efficiency retrofitting skills
Education technology start-up Greenworkx has secured £600k backing from investors in a pre-seed funding round announced yesterday, which the firm said it planned to use to develop training and matching technology to help get more people into green jobs across the country.
The funding round was led by Mangrove Capital Partners, while other investors included the chief executives of Multiverse, MyTutor and Octopus Electric Vehicles.
Greenworkx said there was a “huge skills gap globally” for net zero industries and that its ambition was to get 10 million more people into green jobs over the next ten years.
In particular, the start-up highlighted the drive to decarbonise the UK’s housing stock as one of the country’s leading green skills challenges, estimating around 500,000 more people would be needed to work in green retrofit jobs in order to bring the country’s twenty eight million homes up to scratch on energy efficiency.
“The problem is two-fold,” explained Mat Ilic, co-founder and CEO of Greenworkx. “Firstly, there is an awareness issue – these are highly accessible, meaningful and well-paid jobs but people are unaware that they pay well or that they even exist. Secondly, the current training systems in place cannot deliver at the speed and scale required.”
He claimed Greenworkx was taking a fresh approach to tackling the “green skills emergency” through an app it has developed which uses educational neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make learning green skills more interactive and accessible.
The company said it also planned to work with employers, trade bodies and training organisations to link industry needs with skill pathways into the workplace to try and get more people into green jobs.
“It’s really important for our economy, society and environment that individuals can get the right signposting, training and funding to access these careers,” added Ilic. “We’re thrilled to have the backing of such an esteemed group of investors for this critical mission.”
The start-up said it has already enrolled its first learners onto a free, introductory retrofit course which it claims has attracted a diverse mix of both job seekers and career changers. The course is fully-funded for learners, according to Greenworkx, which said starting jobs in retrofitting could pay a starting salary of £25,000 without the need for prior degree, A-Level or GCSE level qualifications.
“We’re on the cusp of a green industrial revolution, which will require a huge rethink of our education and training systems,” said Nikolas Krawinkel, partner at Mangrove Capital Partners and Greenworkx investor. “The greenworkx team have a deep understanding of digital-first learning methodologies and we’re excited to work with them to take on this profoundly important challenge.”
