| Goods |
Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour.
https://www.ft.com/content/6ee393a8-b5c7-11e8-b3ef-799c8613f4a1
Accessibility helpSkip to navigationSkip to contentSkip to footer
Cookies on FT Sites
We use cookies(opens in new window) for a number of reasons, such as keeping FT Sites reliable and secure, personalising content and ads, providing social media features and to analyse how our Sites are used.
Manage cookies
Accept & continue
OPEN SIDE NAVIGATION MENUOPEN SEARCH BAR
MYFT
HOME
WORLD
US
COMPANIES
TECH
MARKETS
GRAPHICS
OPINION
WORK & CAREERS
LIFE & ARTS
HOW TO SPEND IT
Sign In
Subscribe
MENUSEARCH
HOME
WORLD
US
COMPANIES
TECH
MARKETS
GRAPHICS
OPINION
WORK & CAREERS
LIFE & ARTS
HOW TO SPEND IT
Sign In
Subscribe
CORONAVIRUS BUSINESS UPDATE
Get 30 days’ complimentary access to our Coronavirus Business Update newsletter
Get the newsletter now
Latest on Euan Blair
Dynasties raise questions over democratic rights
The Square gets hip
Some names that are not in the index of Tony Blair’s book
The best approach to dynasty-building
Euan Blair Add to myFT
Start-up co-founded by Tony Blair’s son raises $4m
Two-year-old company WhiteHat trains apprentices and matches them with jobs
Euan Blair co-founded WhiteHat two years ago with Sophie Adelman
Share on Twitter (opens new window)
Share on Facebook (opens new window)
Share on LinkedIn (opens new window)
Save
Aliya Ram and Henry Mance in London SEPTEMBER 11 2018
31
Print this page
A tech start-up co-founded by the 34-year-old son of former UK prime minister Tony Blair has raised $4m in a seed funding round led by Silicon Valley investor Lightspeed Venture Partners.
WhiteHat co-founders Euan Blair and Sophie Adelman, both former bankers, started the company two years ago to train and connect apprentices with employers including Google, Facebook, WeWork, Salesforce, Warner Bros and Burberry.
It has remained relatively small, relying on a grant of about £300,000 from Ufi, a charitable trust that supports vocational training, and a £567,211 “capital contribution,” which the company said came from “friends and family” including the Blairs.
The new funding from Lightspeed, which is best-known as the first outside investor in messaging app Snapchat, will be used to hire coders and data scientists to develop WhiteHat’s machine-learning technology, which matches apprentices to jobs.
The investment should boost the credentials of the start-up, which has faced scrutiny because of Euan’s high-profile parents, Tony and Cherie Blair. Euan Blair has also invested in property with his mother through a company called Oldbury Residential.
Ms Adelman said WhiteHat met its new investors through her and Euan’s personal contacts and had been “put through the wringer” by Lightspeed to demonstrate its financial viability. She added that the group was due to move out of its current offices in a building owned by the Blairs to a WeWork co-working space in London.
Tony Blair had “no involvement whatsoever in the fundraising”, his spokeswoman said.
Village Global, a fund with capital from major technology entrepreneurs including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, also participated in the funding round.
“They brought one idea together in a way that really changes the game,” said Nakul Mandan, partner at Lightspeed. “Their model really relies on them delivering value to the companies they are giving apprentices to.”
WhiteHat has put 500 apprentices through its training process so far, 65 per cent from minority ethnic backgrounds, 50 per cent who have claimed free school meals and 7 per cent who are refugees or asylum seekers. The start-up aims to have 10,000 apprentices on the programme by the end of 2023.
Euan Blair, an ancient history graduate, said going to university had not prepared him for his first job as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley: “I’m not convinced that those degrees taught us anything about those industries,” he said.
In 2015, the UK conservative government announced plans for an apprenticeship levy that gives a tax break to employers with apprentices. Tony Blair was a fierce advocate for university education while in office from 1997 to 2007.
Get alerts on Euan Blair when a new story is published
Get alerts
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2020. All rights reserved.
Reuse this content(opens in new window)
Follow the topics in this article
Tony Blair
Add to myFT
Euan Blair
Add to myFT
Companies
Add to myFT
Entrepreneurship
Add to myFT
UK companies
Add to myFT
Feedback
Useful links
Support
View Site Tips
Help Centre
About Us
Accessibility
myFT Tour
Careers
Legal & Privacy
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
Cookies
Copyright
Slavery Statement & Policies
Services
FT Live
Share News Tips Securely
Individual Subscriptions
Group Subscriptions
Republishing
Contracts & Tenders
Executive Job Search
Advertise with the FT
Follow the FT on Twitter
FT Transact
Secondary Schools
Tools
Portfolio
Today's Newspaper (ePaper)
Alerts Hub
MBA Rankings
Enterprise Tools
News feed
Newsletters
Currency Converter
More from the FT Group
Markets data delayed by at least 15 minutes. © THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2020. FT and ‘Financial Times’ are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.
The Financial Times and its journalism are subject to a self-regulation regime under the FT Editorial Code of Practice.
Close drawer menuFinancial Times
International Edition
Switch to UK Edition
Top sections
Home
World
Show more World
US
Show more US
Companies
Show more Companies
Tech
Markets
Show more Markets
Graphics
Opinion
Show more Opinion
Work & Careers
Show more Work & Careers
Life & Arts
Show more Life & Arts
Personal Finance
Show more Personal Finance
How to Spend It
Special Reports
FT recommends
Lex
Alphaville
Lunch with the FT
FT Globetrotter
#techAsia
Moral Money
FTfm
Newsletters
Video
Podcasts
News feed
myFT
Portfolio
Today's Newspaper (ePaper)
Crossword
Our Apps
Help Centre
Subscribe
Sign In
|