Augment
9 known investors
Augment is an online business education program for entrepreneurs and executives, positioned as an MBA alternative for the AI era. It offers 800+ video classes, weekly live sessions, handbooks, and a founder community, taught by founders and operators from companies including YouTube, Waze, Wikipedia, Shazam, OpenAI, Google, and Nike, and awards a completion certificate.
Also known as Augment Business School Β· Augment.org Β· The Augment MBA
Investors Β· 9
Also in the syndicate Β· 1
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountSeries ASep 2025 Β· 2 sources
Redpoint Ventures (lead), 8VC, Autotech Ventures, Shopify Ventures
Source β
Source: company announcements and press reports β follow each round's link for the claim.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Augment (augment.org) is an online business education provider that markets itself as an alternative MBA built for the AI era. Its membership gives students access to more than 800 bite-sized video classes, weekly live Q&A sessions, handbooks and quizzes, and a global founder community, and awards a certificate on completion that students can display on a resume or LinkedIn. Instruction is delivered by founders and operators rather than academics, including people associated with YouTube, Waze, Wikipedia and Shazam, and operators from OpenAI, Google, Meta and Nike. The program is self-paced and designed around roughly 15 minutes of study per day.
The company also packages parts of its curriculum as standalone certificate programs covering AI prompting, AI strategy, fundraising and high-performance mindset, taught by named practitioners such as Harry Stebbings of 20VC, Georgia Lewis Anderson (Meta, Microsoft, Google), Zack Kass (formerly OpenAI) and Felix Haas (Lovable). Beyond the online platform, Augment runs online masterminds, in-person meetups and summits, and a LinkedIn-based community. New enrollees join a weekly cohort welcome call and are added to a live-session calendar.
Augment states it has over 10,000 students and alumni from more than 30 countries, with 36 nationalities represented and a 4.8/5 student rating. Prospective students can book a call with a program advisor, and membership includes a 15-day money-back guarantee.
Founding story
Co-founders Ariel Renous (CEO) and Roy Wellner (COO), described as lifelong friends, enrolled together at a well-known European business school in 2020 and found that many of their instructors were academics without firsthand business experience. Concluding that the MBA model was already broken and that AI was rewriting business faster than academia could adapt, they set out to build a practical business school taught by operating practitioners, partnering with business-education specialists and entrepreneurs from companies such as Wikipedia, YouTube, Waze and Shazam to design the program.
Business model
Augment sells an all-in-one annual membership giving individual learners instant access to its full platform: 800+ video classes, handbooks, quizzes, weekly live sessions with instructors, in-person meetups and a private founder community, plus a completion certificate. Standalone certificate programs (AI Prompting, AI Strategy, Fundraising, High Performance Mindset) are offered alongside the full membership. The company positions its pricing against traditional MBAs, describing a roughly $100,000 two-year degree versus a yearly membership costing less than 1% of a traditional MBA, and offers a 15-day money-back guarantee. Many students expense the membership as professional development, and the company provides documentation for reimbursement.
Subscription: a yearly all-inclusive membership covering the class library, live sessions, handbooks, quizzes and community, cancellable by turning off renewal in account settings with access continuing to the end of the billing period; individual certificate programs are also sold.
Traction
The company reports over 10,000 students and alumni drawn from more than 30 countries and 36 nationalities, a 4.8/5 average student rating, and a catalog of more than 800 classes with weekly live sessions. It says students have used the program to scale businesses and raise investment.
Latest developments
Recent activity includes filming new courses with Steve Cadigan (former LinkedIn CHRO), Greg Hoffman (former Nike CMO), Sahil Bloom, Felix Haas of Lovable, Zack Kass (former head of go-to-market at OpenAI), Harry Stebbings (20VC) and Adam Cheyer (Siri co-founder); recording prompt engineering, leadership and personal branding modules; hosting the Augment Dubai Summit 2025; and scheduling the Augment Summit London 2026. The programs page lists certificate tracks in AI Prompting, AI Strategy, Fundraising and High Performance Mindset, including a 21-day 'AI Sprint'.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Augment positions itself as a lower-cost, practitioner-taught substitute for a traditional MBA, aimed at the AI era. It cites coverage from Euronews, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Forbes, Maddyness, Gulf Times and Poets & Quants, the last of which characterized it as a MasterClass-like MBA, and reports more than 10,000 students and alumni and a 4.8/5 student rating.
Augment contrasts itself explicitly with traditional MBA programs on cost (a yearly membership versus roughly $100,000 tuition), duration (about 15 minutes a day versus a two-year commitment), curriculum (practical workflows and a continuously updated syllabus versus academic theory that is slow to adapt), faculty (operating founders and executives versus academic instructors) and delivery (flexible, device-agnostic online access). Its instructor roster of people who built or led well-known consumer technology and AI companies is presented as the core differentiator.
Technology
A web-based learning platform offering on-demand video classes accessible on any device, downloadable handbooks, quizzes, live session scheduling and an online community, with certificates issued on completion.
Go-to-market
Direct-to-consumer online enrollment from the company website, supported by free sample classes and a teaser video, testimonials, consultation calls with a program advisor or program director via a booking form, a 15-day refund guarantee, cohort-based welcome calls, a LinkedIn community, in-person events and summits, and earned media coverage. The company also notes that employers can reimburse membership as professional development.
Entrepreneurs, founders, executives and ambitious professionals seeking practical business and AI skills, promotions, funding or help launching a venture, including those whose employers reimburse professional development.
Geography
The program is delivered online worldwide, with students and alumni from more than 30 countries and 36 nationalities. In-person activity includes gatherings in San Francisco, New York and central London, a breakfast at Web Summit Qatar, the Augment Dubai Summit 2025 and a planned Augment Summit London 2026.
History
The founders began their business education at a European business school in 2020 and, dissatisfied with instruction from academics without operating experience, built an online alternative with business-education specialists and entrepreneurs from Wikipedia, YouTube, Waze and Shazam. The curriculum has since expanded toward AI-era topics, with modules recorded on prompt engineering, leadership, personal branding and AI go-to-market, and courses filmed with figures including Zack Kass (ex-OpenAI head of go-to-market), Adam Cheyer (Siri co-founder), Harry Stebbings (20VC), Greg Hoffman (ex-Nike CMO), Steve Cadigan (ex-LinkedIn CHRO), Sahil Bloom and Felix Haas (Lovable). The company has built out an in-person event program with student gatherings in San Francisco, New York and London, a breakfast at Web Summit Qatar, a Dubai summit in 2025 and a London summit planned for 2026. Its co-founders were named to Forbes 30 Under 30.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Timeline Β· 4
launches, deals, and filingsPlanned in-person summit in London listed among company highlights.
The company lists Forbes 30 Under 30 recognition for its two co-founders among its press highlights.
In-person student summit held in Dubai, part of a program of in-person events that also includes gatherings in San Francisco, New York, London and a breakfast at Web Summit Qatar.
Augment offers standalone certificate programs alongside its full membership, including 'AI Fundamentals: Write Prompts That Work' with Georgia Lewis Anderson (Meta, Microsoft, Google), 'AI Sprint: Become AI Native in 21 days' with Zack Kass (OpenAI), Georgia Lewis Anderson and Felix Haas (Lovable), and a venture capital fundraising program with Harry Stebbings of 20VC.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Augmentaugment.org Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Augment do?
- Online business school selling a practitioner-taught, AI-era alternative to the MBA via an annual membership and certificates.
- Who are Augment's investors?
- Augment's investors include RTP Global, 8VC, Autotech Ventures, Index Ventures, Innovation Endeavors, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures.