An experiential platform that connects college students and businesses.
According to Foreign media reported that Canada Riipen received 3.75 million USD financing, led by SEI Ventures, with Reach Capital, Strada Education Network, EduLab, Entangled Group, Atrium and Arizona State University’s ScaleU participating.
Riipen is an experiential learning platform , founded in 2014, headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, founded by Dana Stephenson, Dave Savory, and Richard Tuck. Riipen helps schools connect college students with companies and enables companies to select top talent.
Our traditional teaching method is to first learn theoretical knowledge in school, and then go to an enterprise to find an internship or job. However, there is a problem here, the theoretical knowledge learning in the early stage may be out of touch with the enterprise work in the later stage. Because some theoretical knowledge is obscure and sounds abstract. But if we can learn and practice at the same time, so that we can actually come into contact with this thing, the effect may be better.
Riipen is unique in that On the company’s platform, schools can list the special skills and services that their students can provide, and companies can list the services they need. After that, both parties can cooperate on specific projects . Moreover, Riipen can not only match the projects of college students and enterprises, but also enable teachers to put the projects created by enterprises into teaching solutions.
The advantage of this is: For students, they can understand the theoretical knowledge more specifically, and also have earlier access to the working environment, laying a foundation for future employment. For enterprises, it can also pave the way for them to cultivate future professional talents.
Riipen website
Riipen primarily serves schools and businesses in Canada. The University of Waterloo in Canada, the University of Toronto, and the University of Suffolk in the United States are all using Riipen’s platform. Riipen claims that they have provided services to 5,000 companies and more than 40,000 students in more than 150 colleges worldwide .
Riipen currently has 48 full-time employees, two-thirds of whom work in marketing, sales, and customer success. The company has offices in Vancouver and Toronto, Canada, and plans to open a US office in 2020.
Dana Stephenson said that the new round of financing will be used to recruit more sales and marketing personnel to expand the company’s business in the United States. Riipen also sees opportunities in other markets, and next year they will launch some projects from Australian and British universities.