Sophie Novati, CEO and Founder of Formation: $9 Million Raised to Build a Virtual Fellowship Program for Software Engineers

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Sophie Novati, CEO and Founder of Formation, a virtual fellowship program for software engineers that has raised $9 Million in funding.

Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:

• Tech-Driven Education: Sophie emphasizes the importance of using engineering and product thinking to solve education problems at scale, leading to Formation's adaptive learning platform.


• Unconditional Support: Formation offers unlimited technical training until participants secure a signed offer letter, a unique value proposition in the training program space.


• Dynamic Curriculum: Every lesson and assignment at Formation is dynamically computed based on individual performance, ensuring personalized and effective learning experiences.


• Mentorship Model: Formation's mentors, who are compensated but primarily driven by impact, provide just-in-time mentorship based on students' real-time needs and challenges.


• Navigating Market Changes: Sophie discusses how the current job market has become more competitive, necessitating longer job hunts and more rigorous preparation for software engineers.


• Commitment to DEI: Formation partners with companies like Netflix to support diversity hiring initiatives, aiming to build a more inclusive and equitable workforce.