Karl Maddy spent much of the past decade working for Uber and Handy, online marketplaces for cleaning companies. “I spent a lot of time convincing drivers, handymen, and cleaners to join the gig economy,” he told TechCrunch. But when the pandemic hit, he saw many people lose their jobs overnight.
He found there was a significant shortage of medical assistants who were recession-proof and offered competitive salaries and benefits. So Maddy (pictured above, center) wondered if she could help janitors become medical assistants.
“When I looked into it, I found that most of the paths were vocational school or community college,” he said. “It can take up to two years and cost up to $20,000.”
In 2021, he teamed up with former Udacity employee Trecia Hobeica (pictured left) and former Apple engineer Eduardo Serra (pictured right) to create an AI-powered online program to train entry-level talent. Founded Stepful. Get a healthcare job like a medical assistant or pharmacy technician for an average of $2,500 in 4 months.
Since then, Stepful has grown from just 50 students in its first year to a projected enrollment of 30,000 in 2024.
Maddy says students love the fact that Stepful balances flexibility and structure. Although students can do much of their learning asynchronously and in small increments on their smartphones, they must attend weekly instructor-led classes and work in groups. “It's a much more engaging way to learn,” Maddie said.
After completing online coursework, Stepful automatically matches students with one of 8,000 partner clinics or hospitals nationwide for one to two months of on-the-job training.
Employers are keen to train these students because there is a shortage of medical professionals, Maddy said. “What they say is, ‘Let’s take these students in.’ We can train them and if we like them, we can hire them,” he said.
The company also boasts a 75% graduation rate, which is achieved through Stepful's AI sending personalized messages to students who are falling behind. If that doesn't help get people back on track, a human coach steps in to provide additional motivation. “People feel supported and nurtured and we see them,” Maddy said.
Students seem to love the education Stepful provides, but they're not the only ones flocking to the company. On Wednesday, Stepful announced it raised $31.5 million in Series B led by Oak HC/FT with participation from Y Combinator, Reach Capital, AlleyCorp and others. This funding comes less than nine months after Stepful raised $12 million in Series A funding.
“We are seeing a huge demand for healthcare professionals,” said Vig Chandramouli, partner at Oak HC/FT. In fact, according to the American Hospital Association, the U.S. health care system is projected to soon be short on 3.2 million workers, including allied health professionals such as medical technicians and assistants, as well as nurses and mental health professionals.
Oak HC/FT looked at other startups that could help solve the healthcare worker shortage, but found that staffing companies like Nomad Health had narrow gross margins and would not help increase the supply of professionals, Chandra said. Mauri said.
“What we liked about Stepful is that they mostly hire hourly workers and bring them into the healthcare field, where they have stable pay and good benefits,” he said. Ta. “They’re also smart about how they leverage generative AI.”
In other words, Stepful relies on GenAI to ensure that its metrics resemble a technology business with far fewer humans than typical education programs.