Announcing our $12M Series A Led by Forerunner Ventures

Today, we are thrilled to announce Leland's $12M Series A led by Forerunner Ventures! Forerunner has an incredible track record of backing iconic consumer brands and marketplaces like Warby Parker, Chime, Glossier, OURA, Faire, Zola, The Expert, and others. We couldn't be more excited to welcome Eurie Kim to the board and partner with her and Forerunner to take Leland to the next level.

Also participating in the round are GSV Ventures (a leader in education and workforce investing) and inVest Ventures (a fund created by LinkedIn alumni), along with existing Leland investors FJ Labs, Contrary, Peterson Ventures, and GSBackers. We’re also proud that dozens of Leland coaches and customers participated, in addition to leading marketplace founders, operators, and angels from companies like Instacart, Handshake, LinkedIn, Pluralsight, Mercado Libre, and others.

With this fresh capital and support, we’re positioned to realize our vision of unlocking human potential by making the world’s expertise more accessible. Leland has seen incredible momentum in 2024, through an increasingly competitive job market, dropping education admissions rates, and a rise in the importance of in-demand skills.

In the past year, our coaches have helped hundreds of thousands of people in over 70 countries pursue their most ambitious goals across school admissions, career development, upskilling, test prep, and more. Only 5% of those who apply to coach on Leland make it through our vetting process, and we are proud that Leland’s coaches have received over 10,000 reviews with an average rating of 4.98 stars. They are truly the best of the best.

Going into this fundraise, we were cash-flow positive, but this new $12M enables us to be even more ambitious as we pursue our vision. We plan to launch and scale new categories, expand our partnership program, pursue new enterprise opportunities, build out our courses and content experiences, and invest in product capabilities to super-charge our coaches and customers. These past three years of building have shown us that the world needs dedicated, hands-on support to help people unlock their full potential. We feel deeply proud of the trust our customers have in us and our coaches, as well as a fundamental responsibility to build the best platform for any of them to reach their most ambitious goals.

Since founding this company out of my Stanford dorm, I’ve had a small sticky note taped to my computer that reads: “From this desk, you can change the world.” I feel so lucky to build Leland alongside such a talented team of mission-driven people who are bringing Leland’s vision to life and changing people’s lives every day. We have an office wall of stories and emails from countless customers sharing the tremendous impact their Leland coach had on them. That’s what it’s all about.

We want to thank our coaches, customers, investors, and supporters who have made this all possible. While a fundraise is never a destination, it certainly represents an opportunity to reflect on the progress we’ve made and thank the community who has helped us get this far. Most importantly, we know the biggest opportunity is ahead of us, and we’re excited to be building a world-class team to go after it. If you want to join us, we’re hiring. If you want to partner with us in some way, schedule a time with our team here. Lastly, if you are interested in working with a coach or coaching the next generation, we’d love to have you in our community.

Here’s to the next chapter of helping people reach their most ambitious goals.