Collaboration will produce immersive online executive education programmes that deliver rewarding and transformative career development across frontier fields

Cambridge Judge Business School and Esme Learning, the AI-powered digital learning platform, have announced a collaboration to empower working professionals’ career development across frontier fields. The multi-year collaboration commences with two inaugural six-week online executive education programmes:

• Startup Funding: From Pre-Seed to Exit, which will help entrepreneurs overcome the trickiest funding challenges facing startups.
• RegTech: AI for Financial Regulation, Risk, and Compliance, which will prepare risk, compliance, innovation, and data sector business leaders to navigate the complexities of the industry, including technologies such as AI and machine learning that support automated regulation.

Successful programme participants will receive a certificate issued by the Cambridge Judge Business School. The first presentation of Startup Funding, run with the Entrepreneurship Centre, begins 13 October, 2021. The first presentation of RegTech, run with the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), begins 20 October, 2021. Registration for both programmes will close one week after they begin. Esme Learning will offer additional presentations for both programmes in 2022.

“We are delighted that the Cambridge Judge Business School has joined our growing family of university partners to deliver critical knowledge and skills to build the workforce of tomorrow,” said David Shrier, CEO and co-founder at Esme Learning. “Our suite of programmes with Cambridge Judge Business School integrate Esme Learning’s measurable, collaborative approach in online learning with the School’s internationally renowned tradition of research and action. The result is two programmes offering actionable insights for business leaders that advance the state of the art of digital learning.”

ABOUT THE REGTECH: AI FOR FINANCIAL REGULATION, RISK, AND COMPLIANCE PROGRAMME

The RegTech programme will provide critical insights and hands-on tools for working professionals in government and industry to address an increasingly complex regulatory environment. 

In this programme, professionals will:

• Identify new applications and revenue opportunities for RegTech solutions – including technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and AI
• Understand model-driven, machine-readable and executable regulations to scale a business
• Learn from leaders who created the Regulatory Genome Project, a transformational initiative launched in part by the CCAF to sequence an open-source repository of machine-readable regulatory information 
• Run RegSimple, a tool developed from the Regulatory Genome Project to simplify and accelerate the process of regulatory compliance for corporations and facilitating new regulation and policy for governments

Leading luminaries in regulation and risk from CCAF at the Cambridge Judge Business School will teach the programme, including: 

• Programme Director, Robert (Bob) Wardrop: Management Practice Professor and Director of CCAF
• Faculty, Emmanuel (Manos) Schizas: Research Associate & Lead in Regulation and RegTech
• Faculty, Simone di Castri: Senior Lecturer at Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship

ABOUT THE STARTUP FUNDING: FROM PRE-SEED TO EXIT PROGRAMME

Cambridge Judge Business School's course Startup Funding: From Pre-Seed to Exit goes beyond what first-time entrepreneurs to seasoned founders must understand when raising capital – especially at a venture’s earliest funding stages (seed to Series B). The programme will cover exactly how to launch a venture and navigate critical inflection points along a company's growth trajectory to achieve either a successful exit, or long-term operational viability. 

University of Cambridge has been responsible for over 140 startups since 2011, and these companies have raised over £1.9b in equity investment across more than 400 rounds. Notable spin-outs include gene therapy company Quethera, voice-controlled AI platform VocalIQ, and AI cyber defense company Darktrace.

Designed to empower entrepreneurs, the Startup Funding programme provides the tools and insights to:

• Structure a new venture so it is more appealing to investors
• Effectively position companies and pitch potential investors, by communicating product value to drive investment
• Increase efficiency in the fundraising process
• Optimize the negotiated terms of the funding obtained
• Develop and harness a distinctive entrepreneurial mindset

In addition to leading the Cambridge RegTech programme, Robert Wardrop will also serve as Programme Director for the Cambridge Startup Funding programme. Participants will learn from other industry leaders, including: 

• Faculty, Stylianos (Stelios) Kavadias: Margaret Thatcher Professor of Enterprise Studies in Innovation and Growth; Co-Director of Entrepreneurship Centre, CJBS; Academic Director, Advanced Leadership Programme.
• Guide, Ariane de Bonvoisin: startup leader and advisor for Union Square Ventures, Twitter, and Google.

PROGRAMMES POWERED BY ESME LEARNING

Both programmes, produced by Esme Learning in collaboration with Cambridge Judge Business School faculty and staff, will feature high-quality video instruction; interactive, timely media such as podcasts and articles; and correlating formative assessments that test knowledge retention.

Programmes on Esme Learning are thoughtfully crafted with learning design principles that emphasise measurement and feedback. Learners have numerous opportunities to immediately apply programme knowledge via live simulations and small group exercises that emulate work scenarios. Esme Learning’s AI coach leverages 15 years of cognitive science research to intelligently analyse small group peer interactions and suggest individual feedback per learner to ensure productive and rewarding group collaboration.

To register and learn more, visit the RegTech: AI for Financial Regulation, Risk, and Compliance and Startup Funding: From Pre-Seed to Exit programme sites, powered by Esme Learning.