Key Takeaways
- • Achieve Partners has invested in Alchemy, an internship infrastructure platform that operates as an employer of record, managing recruiting, matching, payroll, supervision, and compliance for over 1,000 employers across the United States.
- • The investment targets a structural workforce development gap: approximately 8 million college students annually seek internships against only 3.6 million available opportunities, with just 2.5 million meeting minimum quality standards.
- • Achieve structured the investment through a combination with Ease Learning, a portfolio company within its Workforce I fund, extending the firm's earn-and-learn strategy from apprenticeships into the internship market.
- • Alchemy, founded in 2018 and based in Charleston, South Carolina, is led by Chief Product and Strategy Officer Matt Gurney, with Ryan Craig leading the Achieve deal team.
- • The investment was sourced from Achieve's $450 million Workforce II fund, which closed in April 2026, signaling continued institutional capital deployment into workforce infrastructure solutions.
Summary
Achieve Partners has committed capital to Alchemy, an internship platform addressing a documented supply-demand imbalance in U.S. college workforce development. The deal represents an expansion of Achieve's earn-and-learn investment thesis from apprenticeships into internships, a market characterized by structural inefficiencies that Alchemy is positioned to remediate through infrastructure consolidation.
The market opportunity underpinning the investment is substantial. Alchemy's own data identifies a significant gap between demand and quality supply: while 8 million college students seek internships annually, only 3.6 million internship positions exist, and fewer than 2.5 million meet minimum quality standards. This gap creates both a student employment problem and an employer friction challenge—particularly for mid-market and emerging companies lacking dedicated talent acquisition infrastructure.
Alchemy's business model addresses this friction by serving as an employer of record for interns, centralizing recruiting, candidate matching, payroll processing, supervision protocols, and regulatory compliance. This infrastructure approach allows employers to onboard interns without developing in-house systems, while ensuring students access standardized quality and protections. The platform currently serves more than 1,000 employers, indicating meaningful market traction.
The transaction structure reflects Achieve's portfolio strategy. The investment combined with Ease Learning, an existing portfolio company in Achieve's Workforce I fund, creating a nested relationship within Achieve's broader workforce development thesis. This structure likely provided operational synergies between the two platforms. Achieve closed its $450 million Workforce II fund in April 2026, positioning it as a significant institutional player focused specifically on workforce solutions and human capital development infrastructure.
Leadership continuity was maintained with Matt Gurney serving as Chief Product and Strategy Officer of Alchemy, while Ryan Craig directed Achieve's transaction execution. The Charleston-based company, established in 2018, demonstrated sufficient market validation and growth trajectory to attract institutional backing from a dedicated workforce-focused fund.
The market opportunity underpinning the investment is substantial. Alchemy's own data identifies a significant gap between demand and quality supply: while 8 million college students seek internships annually, only 3.6 million internship positions exist, and fewer than 2.5 million meet minimum quality standards. This gap creates both a student employment problem and an employer friction challenge—particularly for mid-market and emerging companies lacking dedicated talent acquisition infrastructure.
Alchemy's business model addresses this friction by serving as an employer of record for interns, centralizing recruiting, candidate matching, payroll processing, supervision protocols, and regulatory compliance. This infrastructure approach allows employers to onboard interns without developing in-house systems, while ensuring students access standardized quality and protections. The platform currently serves more than 1,000 employers, indicating meaningful market traction.
The transaction structure reflects Achieve's portfolio strategy. The investment combined with Ease Learning, an existing portfolio company in Achieve's Workforce I fund, creating a nested relationship within Achieve's broader workforce development thesis. This structure likely provided operational synergies between the two platforms. Achieve closed its $450 million Workforce II fund in April 2026, positioning it as a significant institutional player focused specifically on workforce solutions and human capital development infrastructure.
Leadership continuity was maintained with Matt Gurney serving as Chief Product and Strategy Officer of Alchemy, while Ryan Craig directed Achieve's transaction execution. The Charleston-based company, established in 2018, demonstrated sufficient market validation and growth trajectory to attract institutional backing from a dedicated workforce-focused fund.
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