Guild

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Guild announced a partnership with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games on April 16, 2024, becoming the Official Education, Skilling & Career Mobility Supporter of Team USA and LA28. The partnership provides Team USA athletes with access to Guild's career opportunity platform, including tuition-free education programs and personalized career coaching.

Guild is a venture-backed B2B education platform that connects employers with education and skilling programs for their workforces. Major clients include Walmart, Disney, and other Fortune 500 companies. The Team USA partnership extends Guild's model to Olympic athletes, addressing the well-documented challenge that most Olympic athletes face limited earning potential from their sport and need career pathways during and after competition.

The partnership carries notable context: Guild has undergone significant leadership and financial transition. Founder CEO Rachel Romer Carlson departed in April 2024, the same month the Olympic deal was announced. New CEO Bijal Shah has since led a 50% expansion of Guild's customer base. However, the company's valuation declined from a peak of $4.4 billion (2022) to approximately $1.3 billion, and two rounds of layoffs reduced headcount by roughly 35% across 2023-2024.

1. OLYMPIC HISTORY & MARKETING PRESENCE

1.1 Partnership Timeline & Evolution

This is Guild's first Olympic sponsorship. The company was founded in 2015 and had no prior relationship with the Olympic Movement before the April 2024 announcement.

The partnership replaces Salesforce in the LA28 partner portfolio; Sportcal reported that LA28 parted ways with Salesforce around the time Guild was announced, though the two moves were not officially linked.

1.2 Signature Programs

• Career Opportunity Platform for Team USA: Athletes who have been members of Team USA within the last 10 years can access Guild's platform for tuition-free education, skilling programs, and one-on-one career coaching.
• Preferred Education Partners: Purdue Global serves as the preferred online university and degree provider. eCornell supports the partnership as a preferred provider of professional education.
• Multi-Games Activation: Guild has activated with athletes during Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026, with LA28 as the culminating event. For Milano Cortina 2026, Guild continues to provide the Career Opportunity Platform to Team USA winter athletes, offering tuition-free education, skilling programs, and career coaching through partners Purdue Global and eCornell.

2. LA28-SPECIFIC INITIATIVES

2.1 Announced Plans & Positioning

• Athlete Career Development: The core offering is access to Guild's Career Opportunity Platform for Team USA athletes, providing education and career transition resources that extend well beyond the Games themselves. Eligibility extends to any athlete who has been a member of Team USA in the last 10 years, broadening reach well beyond active competitors.
• Storytelling: Guild's partnership narrative centers on the tension between athletic excellence and economic reality, since most Olympic athletes cannot sustain themselves on sport alone and need career pathways.
• Employer Partnerships: Guild's model connects athletes to education programs funded by employer partners, potentially extending post-Games career opportunities through Guild's network of Fortune 500 clients.
• Activation Timeline: Guild has been active as a Team USA partner since Paris 2024, giving the company three Games cycles to build athlete relationships and case studies before the LA28 home Games.

LA28 Context: The LA28 Games (July 14-30, 2028 for Olympics; August 15-27 for Paralympics) will be staged across 40+ venues throughout the LA metro area, with a dual-venue Opening Ceremony shared between the LA Memorial Coliseum and SoFi Stadium. LA28 is the first Games since 1948 built entirely on existing infrastructure. The organizing committee has emphasized community benefit and legacy programming, including the LA28 Volunteer Program (presented by Delta Air Lines) and monthly Shine LA community activations in partnership with local organizations. Guild's workforce development and career mobility messaging aligns with this community benefit narrative. The 50-state Olympic torch relay, beginning April 2028, provides a national storytelling vehicle for Guild's athlete career stories.

2.2 Regulatory/Market Context

• The athlete career development angle is increasingly relevant as Olympic committees globally face pressure to support athlete welfare beyond competition. The IOC's Athlete365 Career+ programme addresses similar themes at the international level.
• The education technology market has contracted significantly since 2021-2022 pandemic highs. Guild's sponsorship represents a brand investment during a period of financial retrenchment.
• Guild's employer-funded education model faces competitive pressure from direct-to-consumer platforms (Coursera, Udemy) and employer-built alternatives (Amazon's Career Choice, Walmart's Live Better U, which Guild previously powered).

3. EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP & DECISION-MAKERS

3.1 C-Suite Leadership

• Bijal Shah - CEO since April 2024. Joined Guild in 2018 as its first Chief Product Officer, later served as Chief Experience Officer. Named 2025 CNBC Changemaker. Under her leadership, Guild expanded partnerships by 50% and now reaches six million workers across its employer clients.
• Rachel Romer Carlson - Co-Founder & former CEO. Departed April 2024 (same month as Olympic partnership announcement). Previously led Guild from founding through its $4.4 billion peak valuation.

3.2 Olympic Partnership Leadership

Not publicly disclosed at the individual level. Given Shah's direct role in expanding the customer base and her public focus on the Team USA partnership as a growth initiative, CEO-level engagement is likely.

3.3 Board Members with Relevant Experience

Guild's investors include General Catalyst, Bessemer Venture Partners, and other leading venture firms. Specific board member profiles with sports or entertainment experience are not publicly detailed.

4. AGENCY & CREATIVE PARTNERS

4.1 Agency Model

Guild operates primarily through earned media, content marketing, and employer channel marketing rather than large-scale consumer advertising. As a B2B platform, its marketing is directed at employer decision-makers (CHROs, benefits leaders) rather than consumers.

4.2 Known Agency/Partner Relationships

Not publicly disclosed. Guild's marketing activities are primarily in-house, focused on employer sales cycles, industry conferences, and thought leadership content.

4.3 Notable Creative Executions

• Team USA Athlete Stories: Content featuring Olympic athletes using Guild's platform, distributed through Guild's owned channels and partner communications.
• Employer Case Studies: Guild's primary marketing vehicle is outcome data from its employer partnerships (Walmart, Disney, etc.), showing education program completion rates and career advancement.

5. COMPETITIVE POSITIONING

5.1 Market Share & Competitive Landscape

Guild operates in the employer-sponsored education and workforce development market:

• Direct Competitors: InStride (formerly a partnership between Arizona State University and others), Hitch, EdAssist (Bright Horizons).
• Adjacent Competitors: Coursera for Business, Udemy Business, LinkedIn Learning, Degreed.
• Employer-Built Alternatives: Some Guild clients have built or are building internal education platforms, reducing reliance on intermediaries. Walmart's Live Better U, which Guild previously powered, is a notable example.
• Market Position: Guild's B2B model serves Fortune 500 employers, reaching approximately six million workers. Revenue was ~$275 million in 2024.

None of these competitors hold Olympic or comparable global sports sponsorships.

Cross-Sponsor Dynamics: Guild's education and career mobility role connects to Korn Ferry (LA28 Founding Partner for workforce and leadership), creating a natural partnership between talent development (Guild) and organizational consulting (Korn Ferry) within the Games workforce ecosystem.

5.2 Olympic Sponsorship Differentiation

Guild is the only education or workforce development company in LA28's partner portfolio. The sponsorship category ("Education, Skilling & Career Mobility") is unique and directly tied to athlete welfare, a growing priority for the Olympic Movement. Guild replaced Salesforce, which exited its LA28 partnership in 2024, suggesting LA28 valued the education/skilling category enough to backfill it with a new partner.

5.3 Key Brand Messaging

• Career opportunity and economic mobility for working adults
• Employer-funded education that removes financial barriers
• Skilling and reskilling for the future of work (particularly in the context of AI)
• Supporting the "whole athlete" beyond competition

6. KEY METRICS & BUSINESS CONTEXT

6.1 Financial Performance

Guild is a private, venture-backed company:

• 2024 Revenue: Approximately $275 million, up ~6% YoY.
• Peak Valuation: $4.4 billion (2022 Series F round of $175 million).
• Current Estimated Valuation: Approximately $1.3 billion (2024 estimates), reflecting the broader edtech market correction.
• Total Funding: Approximately $584-$643 million across multiple rounds.
• Workforce Reduction: 12% layoff in 2023, followed by 25% in May 2024, reflecting the shift from growth-at-all-costs to profitability focus.
• Customer Reach: Platform serves approximately six million workers through employer partnerships.
• Key Investors: General Catalyst (lead), Bessemer Venture Partners, and others.

6.2 Olympic Period Performance

• Paris 2024: Guild activated as a Team USA supporter, featuring athlete stories and platform access. Specific metrics on athlete engagement with Guild's platform during Paris have not been publicly disclosed.
• Partnership Impact: CEO Bijal Shah has cited the Team USA partnership as a factor in Guild's 50% customer base expansion in 2024, though the direct attribution is not clear.

APPENDIX: KEY SOURCES

Official Sources

• LA28 Official Newsroom: la28.org/en/newsroom
• Guild Team USA Page: guild.com/team-usa
• USOPC Partnership Announcement: usopc.org
• Purdue Global / Guild Partnership: purdueglobal.edu

Industry Analysis

• Sportico: "LA28, Team USA Gain on $2.5B Sponsorship Goal with Guild Partnership" (2024)
• Sportcal: "LA28 parts ways with Salesforce, ties up with Guild" (2024)
• Built In: "Guild Partners With Team USA to Further Athletes' Education" (2024)
• CNBC: Bijal Shah 2025 Changemakers profile
• Higher Education Inquirer: "Guild: From Promise to Precarity" (December 2025)

Financial Information

• Sacra Research: Guild Education revenue and valuation analysis
• Crunchbase: Guild funding history
• PitchBook: Guild company profile

End of Research Brief