Certiverse Scores $11 Million to Make Exams AI-mazing

In a small Airbnb with only four beds—what Reuben Garcia, co-founder of Certiverse, likes to call a “sleeps 4” space—an idea was born that would challenge the status quo and disrupt an entire industry. Reuben’s words, “Privilege is where all start-ups go to die,” became the guiding philosophy that would fuel Certiverse’s journey to success.

Founded in 2019 by Ruben Garcia, Pablo Meyer, and Federico Lopez, this company gives a new perspective on exams and certifications.

Certiverse, an AI-powered platform that is changing exam development and delivery, has raised over $11 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round. The round was led by Cherryrock Capital, with increased participation from existing investors including Chingona Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Angeles Ventures, Hunt Holdings, and Zeal Capital Partners.

The world is aware of the concept of  “Certification,” a method to achieve both technical and non-technical skills to enhance the prospect of grabbing a job.

As Garcia has explained, a good certification programme values the candidate’s time and effort, ensuring a seamless process from registration to results, beyond simply validating skills.

That’s where Certiverse plays a vital role, with a mission to create a better path for candidates by restructuring the exam development process.  

Every test taker and test developer would agree that the traditional method of developing a test, administering it, and producing certifications was not only rigorous but also painfully slow and time-consuming.

The IDC’s 2024 study found that by 2027, 80% of Global 2000 organizations will address the lack of technical skills through IT training and certifications.

Streamlining the Exam Development Process

Certiverse is an all-in-one platform. It uses AI-powered workflows to streamline the entire exam process, from defining the test’s purpose to delivering results, ensuring efficiency and quality. Its collaborative features allow experts from around the world to contribute to question writing, review, and test assembly, eliminating geographical barriers.

They firmly state that they use the traditional system meticulously but with a twist. By leveraging machine learning and natural language processing to automate workflows, the platform provides intelligent prompts to guide users and create psychometrically valid exam content at unprecedented speeds.

CEO Garcia, who previously founded and sold Innovative Exams, a testing-service company that also provided exam delivery services, is an experienced leader in the industry.

But Certiverse, under his leadership, has significantly reduced the time-to-market and cost for new certifications by pioneering an AI-enhanced, fully online, and asynchronous exam development and delivery platform.

“Certification has the power to change lives, and we’re dedicated to removing the barriers that have historically made launching and earning credentials difficult,”

Over 45 days, Certiverse pitched to approximately 50 firms and began fundraising in early January. In spite of securing $2 million seed acceleration financing round in 2022, Garcia emphasized on finding the right investors, quickly, who believe in the vision and was ready to  help them scale up.

Faster, Cheaper, and Smarter Certification

In late 2020, Certiverse and The Linux Foundation partnered to launch the first live exam for a new, entry-level IT certification. This certification was developed in 12 weeks, approximately one-third of the traditional timeframe, and without upfront content creation costs.

“It’s said that between better, faster, and cheaper, you can only pick two, but Certiverse enabled us to have it all,” said Clyde Seepersad, The Linux Foundation’s Senior Vice President & General Manager, Education.

This latest round of investment will allow Certiverse to scale its platform, making certification programs more accessible to organizations of all sizes and across industries. Investors have shown strong confidence in Certiverse’s approach. As Adrianna Samaniego, Partner at Cherryrock Capital, pointed out, “Certiverse is solving a massive pain point in an industry that’s been slow to innovate. Their platform is proving that certification doesn’t have to take years or cost millions. Top NASDAQ-listed companies and professional certification programs are already trusting Certiverse to scale credentialing faster than ever before. We’re excited to partner with Reuben and the team as they continue to revolutionize the certification model.”

This fresh round of investment will enable Certiverse to further its mission of making certification programs faster, more affordable, and more accessible for organizations worldwide.