Meander’s paid mentorship is launching at a great time. The global e-learning market is expected to surpass $850 billion by 2030 and 75% of people are feeling ‘stuck’ professionally, because they don’t have growth opportunities to progress their career. In the past year we’ve seen major tech lay-offs across Alphabet, Microsoft and more, and amongst startups, meaning many talented individuals are looking to make a career change - or find a new revenue stream. 

There has been a large trend of tech professionals with non-linear career paths, meaning that they are looking to transition from one career to another, highlighting the need for support. 

The platform is designed to help tech professionals explore different career paths, gain insights, learn new skills, and grow their network. Through Meander, users are able to access a trusted network of mentors from different industries across the world. Existing mentors include a variety of expertise from Senior Individual Contributors to Vice Presidents and serial startup founders from a plethora of industries such as FinTech, HealthTech and EdTech.

Anna Buldakova, Meander Co-Founder and CEO said: “It was my own difficult experience transitioning from a career in journalism to a career in tech that led me to building Meander. I was lucky enough to find a mentor who believed in me and helped me navigate the transition. There are more and more people like me in the world, people looking to make a change across industries or occupations and needing some support. We are noticing a big trend of non-linear career paths, especially now with so much change in the tech industry. The Big Tech layoffs have forced professionals to reflect on their careers and reconsider career goals which further highlights the need for accessible professional advice tailored to their situation”.

Upon signing up, a mentee will outline what problem they need help solving through a questionnaire. Whether it be transitioning from one career to another or how to land a promotion, the questionnaire will inform Meander of the type of support they require. Meander will then suggest a bespoke list of mentors which match the mentee using prompts such as; interests, background, industry, and experience. Once matched, the mentee can book and pay for a session with their chosen mentor.

Jacquelle Horton, CEO at Fave, ex-Google Product Manager and Meander Mentor commented: “The symbolism in Meander’s new name is spot-on for why I’m so proud to represent this mission as one of their mentors. Guiding mentees through their curiosity, doubts, and nervousness about exploring new routes or challenges in their careers, then empowering them with the clarity they need to tackle them strongly has been wonderful, and their platform and relevant matchmaking make each session a really powerful conversation as people learn from my experience and mindset having already pushed through the moment they’re facing now.

Horton continues: "Sessions start with just a messy braindump about where they are and what they want, and together we come up with an approachable and efficient path to get them to that exact goal. The relationship we build throughout the sessions seems to be the right push the mentees need, and I’m so grateful to Meander for providing such an excellent tool to bring this clarity to so many growing professionals.”

With Meander, tech professionals have an unprecedented opportunity to gain hands-on experience and develop the skills needed to succeed in their chosen careers. Through its platform, Meander is empowering tech professionals to reach for their fullest potential and make an impact on the world.

Founded by a team of business and tech professionals, with a combined experience from Meta, WhatsApp, Zalando, N26 and Intercom, and not to mention, backed by notable investors, Cherry Ventures and Mosaic Ventures and private investors, Bradley Horowitz (Google), Deb Liu (Ancestry), Paul Forster (Indeed) and Ujjwal Singh (Meta), Meander is a platform dedicated to professionals hoping to change or advance their careers through mentorship.