
Revenue
$274.95M
2024
Valuation
$4.40B
2022
Growth Rate (y/y)
6%
2024
Funding
$583.78M
2022
Revenue
Sacra estimates that Guild generated $275M of revenue in 2024, up 6% YoY from $261M in 2023.
Guild's revenue model centers on taking a percentage of tuition payments from education providers when employees of their enterprise clients enroll in programs. With approximately 6.5M workers having access to Guild's platform at its peak and a 4% utilization rate during pandemic years, the company experienced strong growth in 2020-2021 before facing headwinds in 2023-2024.
The company primarily targets large employers with 10,000+ employees capable of generating $1M+ in annual revenue. Key accounts have included several Fortune 50 companies like Walmart, Target, and Lowe's. Healthcare has emerged as a growth vertical, with Guild adding 12 major healthcare organizations in 2024 representing a 30% increase in healthcare employee access.
Guild's October 2024 acquisition of Nomadic Learning and launch of Guild Academy mark an expansion into corporate L&D services beyond traditional tuition benefits, though these newer revenue streams likely have not yet materially impacted topline numbers.
After experiencing massive growth during the pandemic that saw their workforce triple to more than 1,400 employees between March 2020 and 2022, Guild has undergone significant contraction with two rounds of layoffs reducing headcount by 12% in 2023 and a further 25% in 2024.
Two year headcount growth is currently listed as -19% on LinkedIn. The company's slowdown mirrors broader edtech market challenges post-pandemic, but also reflects the difficulties of a marketplace model when tied to employee benefits that are often a target for budget cuts. It likely also reflects management’s effort to put the company on a more solid footing in terms of cost structure as the market turned.
Valuation
Guild Education reached a peak valuation of $4.4B in 2022, having raised over $730M across multiple funding rounds. The company's valuation has since declined, with secondary market activity in 2024 implying a valuation between $1.46B-$1.98B, representing a 55-66% reduction from peak.
Notable investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, General Catalyst, and Oprah Winfrey. The company's current implied valuation multiple sits between 5-7x estimated 2024 revenue, comparable to the 7.26x multiple commanded by Parchment in its $835M acquisition by Instructure in October 2023.
Product
Guild Education was founded in 2015 by Rachel Romer to help working adults access education and career advancement opportunities through their employers.
Guild Education found product-market fit as a comprehensive education benefits platform for large employers like Walmart and Target, who needed to offer tuition-free education programs to their workforces at scale while maintaining program quality and measuring outcomes.
The platform connects employees to a curated marketplace of over 2,000 education programs, ranging from high school completion to bachelor's degrees and professional certifications. When an employee at a Guild partner company wants to pursue education, they access Guild's platform to explore available programs, connect with academic coaches, and enroll in courses that align with their career goals. The platform handles all aspects of program administration, from academic counseling to tuition payment management.
Guild's coaching services provide personalized support throughout the education journey, helping employees select programs, navigate coursework, and connect learning to career advancement. The platform also includes analytics capabilities that help employers track program participation, measure outcomes, and identify skill gaps in their workforce. Through Guild Academy, launched after acquiring Nomadic Learning, the company now offers specialized training programs focused on emerging skills like AI and healthcare certifications.