Euan Blair worth £337m after start-up wins fresh investments
TONY BLAIR’S son has an estimated paper fortune of £337m after his Multiverse start-up secured fresh investments that pushed its value over £1bn for the first time.
The Google-backed education technology start-up has secured a $220m (£176m) investment to expand into theus operations, Multiverse said yesterday.
With Mr Blair owning at least 25pc of the company, its new valuation of $1.7bn means his shareholding is worth a minimum of £337m. A company spokesman declined to say what Mr Blair’s precise shareholding is but confirmed it is between 25pc and 50pc.
The latest fundraising means Mr Blair’s shareholding has quadrupled in value, from around £160m in September last year after a Series C funding round led to a $130m cash injection from US investors.
It comes just a week after Mr Blair was awarded an MBE for services to education. It means he was given his first honour 30 years sooner than his father, who secured a knighthood at the age of 68 in January.
Multiverse is an apprenticeship training provider and jobs board, linking potential tech apprentices with employers. Founded in 2016 by Mr Blair, the company’s unique selling point is directly opposed to his father’s flagship education policy.
Tony Blair’s Labour government pledged that 50pc of all school leavers would go to university in a massive expansion of state-funded post-18 education.
Now, 15 years after his father stepped down as prime minister, the younger Mr Blair has made hundreds of millions from picking up the young people left behind by that policy.
Mr Blair said: “Mandating degrees, and making admissions officers the gatekeepers for great careers, means leaving out thousands of talented individuals. This funding will help us bring more people without degrees or in need of re-skilling into tech careers and ultimately create a more diverse group of future leaders.”