Shamrck is one of the thousands of startups across the nation that pivoted during the Covid-19 pandemic.
But the decision was not made due to a declining industry — instead, it was born after founder Sheffie Robinson saw the need right at her kitchen table. Her 17-year-old son needed calculus in order to get closer to his dream of mechanical engineering, but the school stated it only offered algebra.
"We saw a need that was exacerbated by Covid but it was also myself as a parent, looking at my child being forced into classes that had nothing to do with his future," Robinson said. "So it got me to looking what data schools used to make decisions of what classes they would carry, and there wasn’t a lot of visibility. And I had the ability to change that."
Robinson pivoted her company, a software development firm launched in November 2020, to a data and workforce development firm called Shamrck.
"My son was the perfect use case — get the foundation, then get job experience before you even graduate high school, and see how much further along can you be," she said. "It can apply to multiple kids; it can apply to social and economic issues and give them access to resources they may not have known."
It has already caught the attention of Google, which included Shamrck in its Google for Startups' Black Founders Fund.
"It's something the tech space and Big Tech will keep an eye on because this introduces students to [the industry] in a way where you don't have to go to school for it," Robinson said. "And being able to solve diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the process is something Big Tech is trying to solve."
The platform is provided to schools entirely free and allows students to take a short assessment to help them find their ideal career. In addition to helping students choose the right courses, Shamrck teams up with businesses to offer micro-internships that are one to three months for juniors and seniors in high school.
"Schools aren’t moving as fast as industries are; so let's close the gap to not only training what's applicable right now but getting project-based experience," Robinson said. "It's giving what businesses would love help developing but don't have time."
And businesses can benefit beyond having access to additional labor.
"A lot of the jobs kids will be doing in 10 years don't exist yet," Robinson said. "We want to look at 2035 and see we're better aligned, they're better aligned with their career operations and then they don't have to play catch up."
The company, which started this entire process roughly three weeks ago, has more than 600 students on its platform and projects to hit over 2,000 by the end of the month.
Robinson received $100,000 from Google for Startups but the company is otherwise entirely bootstrapped. She is in the process of raising a $500,000 pre-seed round and plans to launch a seed round for roughly $5 million by the end of the year. After getting tapped for the Tampa Bay Wave's TechWomen Rising accelerator program, Robinson made the move to St. Petersburg from Mississippi and plans to add 10 more local employees to the dozen the company already has.
"We're growing really quickly and are looking forward to engaging in the community in a way to create a talent pipeline for the students, and help them see the value in their local area," she said. "Because our goal is to make sure these students have a sense of hope."
