Framework raises $2M seed to create an ‘on-demand business school’ aimed at startups

Business education is, let’s face it, finding it hard to keep up with a $3 trillion global tech startup economy that's booming right now. High-growth companies are time-starved and so are their executives, but the courses they are offered are long, often boring, and varying in quality. Ideally, business education should be more on-demand, targeted, practical and byte-size.

So this, essentially is what Framework has come up with, and it’s now raised a $2 million seed round to create an "on-demand business school". The edtech platform says it has more than 2,500 people on its waitlist ahead of its launch next year.

The idea is that Framework members learn directly from tech operators from companies including Slack, ASOS, Flo Health and Netflix, via 15-minute "Frameworks" and live office hours sessions. Members can also make 1:1 connections with each other. This is sometimes called "snackable" content.

Framework has spun out of Founders Academy, the nine-month “free alternative-MBA” born out of Founders Forum, a private network of the world’s elite tech entrepreneurs, largely drawn from Europe.

The backing is coming from LearnStart, the seed fund of Learn Capital, Evio, as well as the angel programs for Atomico and Ada Ventures. It also includes angel investors including Brent Hoberman (co-founder of lastminute.com, MADE.com), Claire Novorol (co-founder of Ada Health), Tom Foster-Caster (former COO at Monzo), Victoria van Lennep (co-founder of Lendable) and Aaron Mitchell (HR Director at Netflix).

Asha Haji, co-founder at Framework, said: “Our mission is to scale a new generation of tech leaders by building the go-to learning community for startups and scaleups around the world.”

Riya Pabari, co-founder at Framework, added: “As two female founders of color, it’s also our chance to fly the flag for all of the incredible under-represented founders who deserve more attention from the VC community.”

Speaking to me over a call Haji said: “Long-form learning is not available to most people who work in startups because of the expense of time. What we're doing is microlearning… It’s really about doing it every day, practical questions. It’s not just the content, it's the community as well. You get to engage with them one on one.”

Brent Hoberman, co-founder and investor at Framework, said: “Framework's bite-sized lessons, practical cheat sheets and engaging community features make it the modern learning platform the industry's been waiting for, and Riya and Asha are the powerhouse duo to bring it to life.”