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Virtual medical training startup Stepful collects $12M Series A

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Illustration of a medical red cross under spotlights on a stage.

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

Online medical training company Stepful collected $12 million in Series A funding.

Why it matters: Shortages of health care workers have continued to plague a health care system already strained by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Details: AlleyCorp Impact, the firm's social impact arm, led the round.

  • SemperVirens, Reach Capital, Y Combinator, Company Ventures, Green Sands Equity and 01 Advisors participated.

What's next: Funds will allow Stepful to expand its program offerings and ink new health care system partnerships.

  • CEO Carl Madi foresees Stepful collecting a Series B sometime in the next two years.

How it works: New York City-based Stepful offers programs targeted at people in underserved communities using a mobile-first approach that includes short videos, group projects, simulations and community learning modules.

  • Stepful has graduated 3,000+ students to date, per Madi, leading graduates to positions where they see an average 25% increase in income.
  • Its programs span training for medical assistants, pharmacy technicians, surgical technologists and licensed practical nurses.
  • The company also partners with health systems to help them fill open roles.

Flashback: Stepful last May raised a $7.5 million seed round, and Madi at the time predicted the company would collect a Series A in 2024.

Of note: Together with the funding, CommonSpirit SVP of talent acquisition Wanda Cole-Frieman and AlleyCorp Impact managing partner Tanya Beja join Stepful's board of directors. SemperVirens general partner Allison Baum Gates joins as board observer.

What they're saying: "Stepful fits our investment criteria like a glove," AlleyCorp's Beja tells Axios. "It's affordable and it meets people where they are."

State of play: Ongoing shortfalls of health care workers have kept venture investors' attention laser-focused on several companies looking to fill the gaps, including:

  • Iris Telehealth, a telepsychiatry staffing company that matches providers with clinics, in 2022 collected $40 million in Series B capital.
  • Health care career marketplace Incredible Health in 2022 pulled in $80 million in Series B funding at a $1.65 billion valuation.
  • Tech-enabled health care staffing company ShiftKey last January raised $300 million at a $2 billion valuation.
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