BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DataCamp, the first online platform for learning data science, has closed a $1M seed round of financing. The funding was led by Chris Lynch at Accomplice and will be used to expand DataCamp’s unique and successful data science learning platform to include new, emerging data technologies and techniques.

“The tremendous unmet need for data science skills around the world will be primarily filled by the existing workforce”

“Companies in every industry need to get insight from their data. But, they cannot find people with the right skills to do that, and existing employees often don’t have the necessary skills either. DataCamp is solving this problem by teaching professionals the data science skills that employers are so desperately searching for,” said Jonathan Cornelissen, co-founder and CEO of DataCamp. McKinsey & Company estimates that in 2018 there will be a shortage of 1.7M data scientists in the US alone.

The best way to learn is by doing. All DataCamp courses are provided through an online interactive learning portal for hands-on experimentation right in the browser. Practical, real-world exercises and challenges are presented to the student and personalized feedback is given by the platform that helps them find the right solution. This approach is significantly more effective than traditional educational frameworks; DataCamp’s course completion rates are 3x that of other online learning platforms, with more than 150,000 users having completed courses. 70% of DataCamp’s users are professionals primarily in the technology, finance and healthcare industries.

“The tremendous unmet need for data science skills around the world will be primarily filled by the existing workforce,” said Chris Lynch, partner at Accomplice. “DataCamp’s approach to teaching those skills is innovative, unique and most importantly, effective. This team has built a learning platform with incredible potential and we are excited to bring the team to Boston and expand the model.”

DataCamp has partnerships with large organizations like Microsoft (edX) and IBM (Big Data University) on key big data learning initiatives. It also has partnerships with professors from leading academic institutions including Princeton, Duke and University of Washington.

DataCamp currently offers a curriculum that includes programming with R, big data manipulation, and data visualization and reporting. There is a free Introduction to R course and the first chapter of the more advanced courses is free; unlimited access to classes and courses is offered on a subscription basis ($25/month).

With the new funding, the curriculum will be expanded beyond R to include Python and other emerging data technologies such as Spark. In addition to the fully online experience, DataCamp is also developing a model for academics and corporations to use in classroom or blended learning environments to train entire teams of aspiring data scientists.