French EdTech 360Learning secures $200m of investment

Learning in the workplace has become a prominent topic as companies look to upskill staff amidst employee shortages.

Equally, training and the expansion of skills have been asked for from staff who have faced the new challenges of remote and hybrid working.

One company that focuses on educating the workforce is 360Learning, which has been supported by a $200 million investment from Softbank, Silverlake, and Sumeru.

360Learning’s platform focuses on crowdsourcing learning needs in real-time and allows for collaboration with line-of-business leaders to launch academies, cohort programs, and interactive courses that engage employees.

360Learning has invested in collaborative learning innovation and is seeking to change how companies approach learning and development, making it bottom-up, instead of top-down. 

Naturally, this methodology of learning that focuses on employees’ desires has been viewed positively by employers looking to invest in training at work.

360Learning’s commercial appeal is linked with an average Relevance Score of 95%. This impressive score comes from employees ranking the content on the completion of a course from the likes of LinkedIn Learning and Udemy.

The new funding brings the total money raised by 360Learning to over $240 million. The company intends to use the investment to grow its team to over 500 people by the end of next year.

The main focus will be hiring in innovation, engineering, and product. With this increase in hiring the product also plans to reach new markets across North America, Asia, Europe, and South America.

Comments on the investment

Nick Hernandez, founder and CEO at 360Learning, spoke about the investment: “By focusing on collaborative learning and combining it with AI and data, we’re radically changing how people learn in the workplace.

“Our engagement figures show that with the right learning approach and technology, L&D becomes a driver of growth. Learners take control of their own learning and their companies thrive and lead in the new hybrid work environment.

“We’re delighted to welcome a brilliant new set of investors from three different continents to help us spearhead a transformative breakthrough in the learning market.”

On the back of the announcement, Paul Davison, senior investor for SoftBank Investment Advisers, said: “We believe the accelerating evolution of the workforce towards remote and distributed teams places an imperative on all companies to rethink how they train, upskill and retain employees more effectively.

“360Learning places collaboration at the heart of the learning experience with personalized courses, decentralized creation, and adaptive delivery. The platform draws out the best knowledge and experience from every corner of an enterprise, which boosts employee use and transforms engagement levels.

“We are immensely excited to support Nick and the 360Learning team to continue to invest in the product and scale their customer base globally.”