What happens when you mix a boring training video with an exciting podcast?
Boulder-based startup Giide is hoping to create the perfect on-the-go learning environment for employees of large companies by combining these two mediums.
As technological advancements necessitate routine employee training, employers often still rely on traditional online courses to bring their workforce up to speed. But learning from traditional online courses can be a slog. You’re tethered to your desktop for hours on end, watching a video training exercise that doesn’t engage you.
With podcast listenership surging; a recent study reported that nearly one in three people listen to at least one podcast every month, Giide CEO and founder Allison Kent-Smith saw a path to learning through audio.
“If you look at the category of online learning, there has been very little innovation in the last decade,” she said. “It’s desktop video-based, with the guy and the girl standing in front of the room being filmed. I discovered that people weren’t learning this way.”
Giide is an interactive, audio-guided learning app built for workplace education on everything from coding and blockchain to empathy and personal growth.
Each session is led by an industry expert, chosen specifically by Giide to speak on personal experiences and opportunities for growth. While Giide is audio-focused, the app also delivers recommended articles, activities and videos that give users a complete learning experience.
“We curate a guided path through content that will best help you learn what you need to learn,” Kent-Smith said.
Giide modeled its learning platform after podcasts to allow customers to learn on-the-go, not just at their desk. Kent-Smith said a lack of time is the primary reason people are unable to learn at work.
Unlike the traditional desktop learning model, Giide can be taken in the car, in line for coffee or on the kitchen counter while you prepare dinner.
“Our intention is to redefine how people learn at work and at home, mirroring how people are already learning, but serving it up in a modern version,” Kent-Smith said.
In addition to learning workshops currently curated by Giide, the company is building an authoring platform that will allow any customer or expert, with any content, to build a Giide experience.
The six-person company raised a $555,000 pre-seed angel round earlier this year and is in the process of raising a $1.8 million seed round now.
Kent-Smith said the funding will allow the company to accelerate its growth, adding important executive positions like a head of content and beefing up the startup’s sales efforts.
