bridge, a talent training and digital skills company, has just announced a financing round for a total of 5 million euros led by Atitlan, a business group focused on the creation and consolidation of long-term value. It is one of the major financing of the sector in our country to date, and the group’s first investment in the educational segment.
The Bridge began its activity in November 2019 offering intensive training programs in the areas of cybersecurity, data science, software development and UX/UI design at its own campus in Madrid. Just three years later, it has graduated more than a thousand people who present a employability as digital professionals 95%. The scope of its activity has also expanded strongly after adding Cloud, Devops and Digital Marketing programs to its portfolio, opening offices in Valencia, Seville and soon in Bilbao, and developing training collaborations with companies and institutions in the corporate field and higher education such as Indra, Bupa, Thales, Incibe, Fundación Universia, IESE Business School, CEU Cardenal Herrera, Chamber of Seville, Carlos III University Foundation of Madridamong other.
As it explains Iker Arce, founder and CEO of The Bridge“In our short history we have graduated more than a thousand people, launched six training curricula, opened three offices and launched scholarships and social impact programs worth 1.5 million euros. And we have created a team with unique skills and passion to support our students on their path to improvement and achievement. It is time to take the project to a new phase in which we are going to multiply our impact and be the agent that contributes to the digitization of talent on a much larger scale.”.
The digital transformation of the economy has accelerated after the recent Covid-19 crisis, making the need for a workforce equipped with digital skills essential. It is estimated that in Spain they will create 400,000 new jobs in the digital realm during the next 4 years, while the traditional educational system hardly graduates every year 16,000 people with digital training. At that rate, it would take 15 years to train the number of professionals that will be needed over the next four.
The Bridge has positioned itself as an agent capable of closing the gap between demand and supply of digital skills in the labor market. In addition to having its own training programs, it helps universities, business schools and companies to form the competency profiles of their own students and employees.
In the words of José Lara, founder and President of The Bridge“digital transformation is a huge challenge for any society. People are showing their will and effort to transform, but with their push alone we will not be able to reverse the digital skills deficit. We must ensure that companies, educational institutions and the public sector respond to the demand for digital skills at the same level”.
Aritza Rodero, founding partner of Atitlancomments “At Atitlan we believe that education is one of the fundamental pillars for social development. Our system is not capable of adapting to the rapid changes promoted by technological advances. The Bridge, with an agile and successful business model, has broken into the sector with a clear focus and high effectiveness. Their culture fits perfectly with our principles and we are very excited about the possibility of accompanying them in future growth.”.