Thinkful, a New York City-based online education startup that offers personalized education in web development, announced that it raised a total of $1 million from investors that include Peter Thiel’s FF Angel, according to a press release from Business Wire.

Thinkful was founded in 2012 by Dan Friedman and Darrell Silver as an online apprenticeship-style education company specializing in web development training. Some job seekers are turning to massive open online courses (MOOCs) to gain the skills they need. But Darrell Silver said that most students who take advantage of these free courses are not completing them. “We believe personal interaction and collaboration with students is required, and we’re building Thinkful to make this possible for everyone,” Silver said in the press release.

Thinkful charges $250 per month for its three-month course. Students watch video lectures, have weekly online face-time check-ins and complete a web development project. Students can choose to either bring a project idea of their own or else work with Thinkful to come up with one. Lecture topics in the course include HTML, JavaScript, Bash, Wireframing and CSS. After graduation, students receive access to Thinkful’s employer network of 72 technology companies, each of which is interested in reviewing the resumes of graduates.

Friedman and Silver developed the personalized education company to fill in the skills gap in today’s job marketplace by helping job seekers develop in-demand web skills that help organizations thrive. Thinkful provides each student with a learning mentor who meets with them once a week to review any problems and keep the student on track to graduate. On their company website, Thinkful claims that what makes their educational structure unique is the combination of self-directed learning and “frequent, one-on-one help” with the mentors.

Thinkful co-founder Daniel Friedman was the recipient of Peter Thiel’s 20 Under 20 Fellowship, which identifies and awards $100,000 to young entrepreneurs who have big ideas for scientific and technical projects before they reach the age of 20. Friedman, who is currently only 21 years old, received the fellowship in 2011.

[cf]skyword_tracking_tag[/cf]

Get Free Updates!

Stay in the loop with a bi-monthly newsletter, with all our news from the previous week.

I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )

We will never give away, trade or sell your email address. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Please Leave A Comment

comments

Related posts:

Adaptive Learning Technology Leader ALEKS Corporation Acquired by McGraw-Hill Education Games in the ClassroomGaming Offers New Opportunities in Education cathy sandeenEducator Offers Her View on Issues on Affecting Higher Education Renaissance LearningGoogle Invests $40 Million In Education Technology Company Inside the Black Box of Classroom Practice: Change Without Reform in american educationStanford Professor Offers Book on Future of Technology in Education