RITThe thesis
AI is rewriting what careers ask of this generation. Memorized knowledge is losing value. What survives is what a person can do, and can prove. We build the companies that deliver that proof.
Real experience before graduation day. The judgment to use AI well. The confidence to create value in roles that are still being invented. That is career readiness now, and it is the single thesis behind every venture in this group.
The student journey
One journey. One connected system.
Five stages, from a student’s first career conversation to their first meaningful role. Each core venture owns a stage.
- 01
It starts in school
StrideUp
Where students build real skills and launch their own venture: the journey, the platform, and the proof of what they did.
strideup.orgBluePrint
School-facing programs that bring career readiness into the classroom, so the journey starts earlier.
Coming soon - 02
Guided, every step
- 03
The right university
- 04
Real experience
- 05
A career that fits
A graduate who arrives at work ready, with proof in hand.
Not participation. Possession.
Running today
Named programs, live on university campuses.
Four US universities run named experiential learning programs powered by Excelerate, alongside employer partnership with Grant Thornton and 10,000+ sponsorable student opportunities across 15+ engagement formats.
RIT
Saint Louis UniversitySLU EXP
Grand Valley StateLaker EDGE
Illinois TechEdge Award
The portfolio
Nine ventures. One direction.
The core system serves the student journey end to end. Around it, a group of ventures in the making extends the same thesis into new markets.
01Experiential learning
Excelerate
Free, remote projects, internships and competitions that turn learning into evidence employers can read.
250,000+Learners reached
190+Countries
2022Founded
02International enrolment
Globally Recruit
In-country enrolment teams that put universities on the global map without adding headcount.
80,000+Applications processed
10In-country hubs
6 weeksGo-to-market activation
03Credential evaluation
EvalBridge
Credential evaluations admissions teams can trust, delivered fast enough to keep deadlines intact.
150+Countries covered
99.9%Accuracy rate
<48 hrTurnaround
04Guidance and educator training
Catalystia
Future-Ready Catalysts coach students through their next decision, and train the educators who guide them.
CPDCertified Catalyst training
1:1Coaching for students
5+ yrsMinimum Catalyst experience
05CAREER READINESS AND PROOF OF WORK
StrideUp
A guided path that takes learners from future-ready skills to a real work engagement and proof they own.
3 StagesLearn, Practice, Launch
8 SkillsThat employers will value most by 2030.
1 DayFrom idea to a live business
06Global internships and community
GlobalShala
A launchpad that connects students to paid internships, global events and mentors who help them find direction.
Explore → GrowFour-step student journey
GlobalPartners, events and mentors
PaidInternships and opportunities
07AI-powered global B2B marketplace
Pepagora
An AI-powered global B2B marketplace built for SMEs: a launchpad for overlooked businesses to connect, sell and source with verified partners across the world.
13+Verified industry categories
2021Founded in Dubai
GlobalPresence across UAE, USA, India & beyond
Blueprint08
Career readiness in schools
Blueprint
Blueprint brings career readiness into school, helping students begin exploring what comes next.
EarlierCareer exploration starts in school
ConnectedLearning linked to future choices
SoonCompany launch
09Personal brand to first client
Impactus
A three-phase launchpad: build a personal brand, start a business, and land a first international client.
3 phasesBrand, business, client
UAE + USAClient network access
WeeklyDeal reviews and coaching
Doorways
One system. Four ways in.
Families now choose institutions by asking one question first: where will my child be four years from now? Wherever you stand in that question, there is a doorway into the work.
Students & families
Discover, build, and become. Begin with a certified Future-Ready Catalyst for clarity and direction, or jump straight into real experiences, internships, and global challenges.
Schools
Bring career readiness into your classrooms years before university. BluePrint and StrideUp give schools structured programs, and Catalystia trains your educators as certified guides.
Universities
Put career outcomes at the center of the student experience: experiential learning from the first year to graduation, powered by Excelerate and running today on four US campuses.
Funders & mission partners
The mission scales with partners who back it. Sponsor student opportunities, bring the system to new regions, or invest in the ventures extending this work into new markets.
- Family offices
- CSR programs
- Venture funds
- Non-profits
- Governments
Build with us
Entrepreneurship is a career skill. We help you teach it.
Seeing possibility without a job description, testing an idea, and building something useful: that is what careers now reward, in every field. We bring the machinery to practice it.
Launch a venture studio on your campus
- Idea
- Prototype
- Customise
- Launch
- Pitch
StrideUp brings the venture-builder journey into schools and universities: students build real ventures on a structured track and present them at Demo Day, with the proof of what they did. Open to every student, in every discipline, whatever they choose to do next.
Don’t study the future. Build it.
Bring the studio to your campusBuilding a venture for student careers?
We back founders on the same mission. If you are building for career readiness, guidance, experiential learning, or the bridge from education to work, we would like to hear the idea.
Pitch us your ventureHow we build
Three rules, every venture.
Students are the client
Every venture is judged by one measure: did it move a real student closer to a real career. Growth follows from that, never ahead of it.
Operators, by design
We build and run our companies. Shared infrastructure, shared standards, and a single thesis let each venture go deeper than it could alone.
Partners, in full
With universities, schools, and counselors, we work as strategic partners invested in their outcomes. Their students, their brand, their success.
Every student deserves a running start. That is the work.