elm studio

What elm studio does

Elm Studio is a Brooklyn-based private software company that operates a cloud-based portfolio and career-readiness platform aimed at universities and their students. The platform uses AI-powered resume import to extract experiences, skills, and projects, and then automatically maps each student entry to the 8 NACE career-readiness competencies with attached evidence, building both a public portfolio site and an institution-wide competency dataset. Universities receive a branded deployment under a single campus license, an admin dashboard tracking adoption, profile completeness, and employer discovery, and exportable PDF/CSV reports for accreditation and leadership review. Specialized modules support student-athletes (statistics, highlight reels, coach endorsements), researchers (publications and media), and creative students (visual portfolios and image galleries).

The business model is a multi-tier B2B subscription with embedded PLG and freemium components. Universities buy Starter ($500/year + $1,500 implementation), Growth ($1,500/year + $5,000 implementation), or Enterprise (from $5,000/year + $12,000 implementation) licenses covering unlimited students; institutions can also purchase bulk Professional Credits to award standout students. Students access a free tier with an optional $49/year Professional upgrade (custom domain, premium themes). Employers post jobs free through a separate hiring portal and receive AI-matched, portfolio-vetted candidates. Customer segments span R1 higher education (Michigan, NYU Stern, Cornell, Columbia, Iowa State, UT Austin, Alabama), specialized institutions (Ringling, Code Platoon, IM Sciences), K-12 (KIPP Purpose Academy), and international partners (Mondragon LEINN in Spain). The company is founder-led, with at least one disclosed co-founder (Amelia Lang-Wallace, Director of Operations), and is FERPA- and COPPA-compliant; it has not disclosed funding, revenue, or headcount beyond a 1–10 employee range.

Name

elm studio

Legal name

Elm Studio

Website

https://elmstudio.co

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Elm Studio is a Brooklyn-based software company that provides universities with an AI-powered portfolio and career-readiness platform, automatically mapping student experiences to NACE competencies under a single campus-wide license, with freemium student and employer tools layered on top.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Career Readiness Software

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Computer Training (611420), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Portfolio, Capstone & Project-Based Program Support (EDAMAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Career Readiness & Employability Skills (Resume, Interview, Networking) (EDAMAKAG), Research, Innovation & Fellowship Prep (Labs, Competitions, Publications) (EDAMAKAI)

Keywords

• Career readiness software
• Student portfolio platform
• Higher education technology
• NACE competency mapping
• University career services

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. University Platform Licenses: Annual platform licenses sold to universities in three tiers (Starter, Growth, Enterprise). Includes one-time implementation fee plus recurring annual license. Pricing scales with institution size, not student count. Covers hosting, security, maintenance, updates, analytics, and support.
2. Student Professional Upgrades: Optional upgrades for students wanting custom domains (youname.com) and premium features. $49/year or $5/month. Students can upgrade anytime from dashboard. Universities can purchase Professional credits in bulk to award as recognition (50 credits for $2,500/year, 100 credits for $2,500, 250 credits available).
3. Employer Job Posting: Free job posting for employers. Platform provides hand-selected candidate matching. Employers can post jobs and receive vetted candidates without upfront cost.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Elm Studio provides cloud-based portfolio and career-readiness software that transforms student coursework, projects, jobs, and leadership into professional portfolios automatically mapped to the 8 NACE competencies. Universities license the platform campus-wide (Starter, Growth, Enterprise tiers) to deploy branded student portfolios and outcome dashboards, while students access a freemium self-serve portfolio with optional $49/year Professional upgrades. Employers access a separate free hiring portal to source vetted candidates from partner universities.

Product overview

Elm Studio is a unified student career-readiness platform offering a comprehensive suite of integrated tools. The core platform consists of the Student Portfolio Builder, which automatically transforms coursework, projects, and experiences into polished portfolio entries in real-time. This core platform integrates the Smart Resume Builder (one profile generates unlimited customized resumes), Career Readiness Scoring (AI-powered NACE competency mapping), Job Match (AI job description comparison), Interview Prep (STAR story generation), and SEO & Discovery tools. Universities receive the Admin Dashboard for campus-wide adoption tracking and compliance reporting. The Professional Upgrade is an optional add-on offering custom domains and premium features. The Employer Platform connects universities with hiring teams seeking vetted student candidates.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Student Portfolio Platform Cloud-based portfolio, resume, career-readiness scoring, job match, interview prep, and SEO/discovery platform for college and university students. Offered as a free tier with optional paid Professional upgrade and is included as part of university campus-wide licenses.
• University Admin Dashboard Institutional dashboard for university career services to monitor student adoption, profile completeness, employer discovery, NACE competency coverage, and export PDF/CSV reports for leadership and accreditation.
• Employer Candidate Platform Self-serve employer portal where companies can post jobs free, receive hand-selected candidate matches, review student portfolios with competency evidence and faculty endorsements, and send interview requests.
• Professional Upgrade Optional add-on upgrade for students wanting personal branding features: custom domain (youname.com), premium portfolio themes, advanced customization, SEO optimization, email forwarding, and future premium AI features. Priced at $49/year or $5/month billed annually.
• Professional Credits (Institutional Sponsorship) Institutional sponsorship product allowing universities to purchase Professional upgrade credits in bulk (50 or 100 credits per $2,500/year, with 250-credit blocks available) and award them to honors students, ambassadors, scholarship recipients, interns, seniors, competition winners, and capstone projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3.5x more interview callbacks for students with portfolios vs. LinkedIn alone
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability7 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Google ClassroomcoreTechnology or IntegrationGoogle Classroom integration allows roster and course data synchronization with Elm Studio. Enables faculty to connect existing classroom infrastructure to student portfolio deployment. Part of the setup phase in university partnership model.
• LinkedIncoreTechnology or IntegrationLinkedIn import functionality allows students to import their professional profile data into Elm Studio portfolios. Listed as a core feature in Starter tier. Enables quick profile population from existing professional network.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Handshake: Handshake is the dominant career platform connecting college students, universities, and employers — directly overlapping Elm Studio's three-sided marketplace across universities, students, and recruiting.
• Foliotek: Foliotek provides e-portfolio and assessment software specifically to higher education institutions for student outcomes reporting — the closest direct competitor to Elm Studio's university-branded portfolio and competency mapping.
• Portfolium (Instructure): Portfolium, acquired by Instructure (Canvas), is a higher education portfolio network for students and alumni with employer discovery — directly comparable to Elm Studio's student portfolio plus employer recruiting model.
• Chalk & Wire: Chalk & Wire provides e-portfolio and competency assessment platforms to colleges and universities for accreditation and outcomes — a direct peer in academic portfolio and competency evidence.

Broad incumbents

• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is the default professional profile used by recruiters screening students, with LinkedIn import already a core feature of Elm Studio's Starter tier — overlapping as the incumbent professional presence Elm Studio aims to complement and improve upon for students.
• About.me: About.me is a long-standing personal portfolio and landing page builder for individuals — a broad incumbent serving a similar student-portfolio use case without the university-branded or competency-mapping depth.
• Salesforce.org Education Cloud: Salesforce Education Cloud is a broad incumbent CRM and student success platform used by universities that could expand into portfolio and outcomes reporting — a credible threat and partial substitute for Elm Studio's admin dashboard.

Emerging players

• Pathrise: Pathrise is an early-stage career coaching and job placement program for job seekers, overlapping Elm Studio's career-readiness and job matching offerings from an emerging-player angle.
• Yoodli: Yoodli provides AI-powered interview and communication coaching — an emerging player intersecting with Elm Studio's STAR Method interview prep and AI career tools.
• Riipen: Riipen enables experiential learning and work-based portfolio projects between educators and employers, overlapping Elm Studio's project-based portfolio and employer connection features.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/elm-studio

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about elm studio