French startup Increase has seen the incredible rise of online courses and edtech companies, and its potential to reinvent education at scale. That’s why the startup is working on highly sophisticated online courses that are sold as a package. Augment believes its major could potentially become an alternative to traditional MBAs.
Augment recently raised a $6 million seed round led by RTP Global with other funds also participating, such as Motier Ventures, Origins Fund, Kima Ventures, Bpifrance and Financière Saint James. Several angel investors also invested in the startup, such as Thibaud Elziere and Roxanne Varza.
The main program of the startup is called the Increase your MBA. It’s an accepted and nuanced take on MBAs as it all happens online with a mix of videos from inspirational business leaders, case studies, quizzes, written assignments, downloadable manuals, etc.
I haven’t signed up for Augment’s program, so I can’t tell you if it’s an effective way to learn new business skills. A few months ago, the Augment team showed me some of the videos they were working on, including a video with Eventbrite co-founder Renaud Visage. It was very scripted, but it looked great, in case you’re wondering about video production standards. It is also worth noting that the Augment MBA is a non-accredited MBA.
But things seem to be going well, as Augment told me the course has been live for six months with over 500 students enrolled in the Augment MBA from around the world — 80% from the US, followed by the UK and Middle Eastern countries.
Augment is not a subscription-based product. Instead, you can access the platform with a one-time payment. The Augment MBA currently costs $1,750.
A school of technology founders
In many ways, Augment seems like an alternative MasterClass with a strong emphasis on business education and a structured curriculum that goes beyond video lessons. Some of the early entrepreneurs-turned-teachers include Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, YouTube founder Steve Chen, and Shazam founder Chris Barton.
A successful MBA also gives you some networking opportunities so you can help each other in your careers after graduation. This is why Augment is also trying to create a community around the MBA-like program with some opportunities to network with fellow students.
Augment co-founders Roy Wellner (L) and Ariel Renous (R). Image credits: Augment.
While the company’s first MBA-like program will remain the main program going forward, the startup is already working on other formats and subjects. Augment told me there will be some shorter, cheaper subject-specific courses, or “mini-MBA programs,” as they call them.
The startup hopes it can appeal to three different types of professionals – aspiring entrepreneurs who want to go beyond a simple idea, managers who want to improve their leadership skills, and technical professionals who are looking for business skills to become senior leaders.
There are high upfront costs to create these programs, so it’s important to recoup some of those costs to expand your startup’s business with more programs and new sales channels (corporate offers, bundles, etc.). It will be interesting to see if Augment is able to sell its programs to a larger crowd now that it has secured the main program and some funding.
