our mission
Traditional higher education is broken. Too many people are left out and left behind, leaving them without the opportunities that come from a well paying job.
Other folks try to stick to the path they’ve been told leads to success—only to end up burdened by debt with no job in sight.
We believe there’s a better way. We believe you deserve better.
That’s why we started Bloom Institute of Technology.
We designed everything at BloomTech with one goal: to help you get a well paying job, faster, and with less risk. We teach the skills employers want plus support you in the job search, every step of the way.
We bet on our learners. We’re ready to bet on you.
Austen Allred is the co-founder and CEO of BloomTech. A native of Springville, Utah, Austen’s start-up journey began in 2017 with him living in his two-door Civic while participating in Y Combinator, a San Francisco-based seed accelerator. This experience became the foundation of BloomTech’s rapid growth.
Before founding BloomTech, Austen was the co-founder of media platform GrassWire. He co-authored the growth hacking textbook Secret Sauce, which became a best-seller and provided him the personal seed money to build BloomTech.
Austen’s disruptive ideas on the future of education, the labor market disconnect, and the opportunity of providing opportunity at-scale have been featured in: The Harvard Business Review, The Economist, WIRED, Fast Company, TechCrunch, The New York Times, among others. Austen is fluent in Russian and currently lives in San Francisco with his wife and two kids. You can find him on Twitter @Austen.
As BloomTech’s Chief Experience Officer, Mari is focused on delivering an unmatched learning experience that yields the best possible outcomes for BloomTech learners and our hiring partners, regardless of industry. By designing the learner journey from the day someone decides to transform their career to when they’re on the job and are looking to brush up on new technology trends and tools, Mari is reinventing the way adults learn new skills.
Mari joins BloomTech after many years in EdTech. Most recently, Mari led curriculum, instruction, and assessment teams at DataCamp. Prior to that, she spent over a decade leading learning departments and initiatives at Voxy, EF, and Rosetta Stone. She is a lifelong learner and educator and believes the true magic of learning happens at the intersection of technology and human-led instruction.
Mari has a Bachelor of Arts in Classics, with a minor in Spanish from Barnard College and an MA in Spanish Linguistics from Middlebury. An NYC transplant, she currently resides in sunny Miami with her husband and son.
As BloomTech’s COO, Zoran is focused on building the tools, the job search support, and the partnerships to help our students get hired.
Zoran joins BloomTech with many years of experience across product, partnerships, business development, and operations. Most recently, Zoran was at Uber for over 5 years, where he worked in business development and vehicle partnerships. Prior to Uber, Zoran spent 4 years at Facebook working on the Facebook platform and advertising APIs.
Zoran lives in San Francisco with his family.
As BloomTech’s VP of product, Julia focuses on building an effective and seamless learning experience for our learners. Julia has spent the majority of her career in education (Voxy, Kaplan, NYC Teaching Fellow) and has also worked at CNN. She is a New Yorker living in Massachusetts with her family.
As General Counsel, John is focused on ensuring BloomTech successfully navigates the legal landscape of incentive-aligned education. John is a former Naval Officer with corporate legal experience focused on solving novel legal issues. His legal background includes a judicial clerkship, prominent law firms, and even professional sports. You can find him running, watching Navy football, or exploring the Bay Area with his family.
In a world where lifelong learning is the new imperative, we have the opportunity to empower millions to unlock their future potential. Ready to join us?
