Europe’s biggest EdTech firm Lepaya closes $38m round

The labor market remains tight – with demand outstripping supply – and this is pushing employers to look internally to fill their talent gaps through upskilling and reskilling.

Unfortunately, closing skills gaps is much easier said than done. The key is leveraging the right technology, and specifically automation, to drive business outcomes in the realm of learning and development.

While the wider EdTech market has struggled to attract funding in last few years, Netherlands-based Lepaya and its AI-powered platform has had a stellar 2023 so far.

Following its acquisition of German leadership training provider Krauthammer in May, Lepaya became Europe’s biggest EdTech company.

It has tripled its revenue since its 2021 $40 million Series B round, and now hosts200 clients globally – notable examples include Dell, ING, Maersk and KPMG.

It has now strengthened this position with a $38 million investment round, led by Endeit Capital. Educapital, Mars Growth Capital, and Liquidity Capital also participated in the round.

Talking about the investment, Educapital investment director Jonathan Denais shared: “In the tight labor market corporates struggle with workforce planning.

“What we love about Lepaya’s platform is that it does not only identify skill gaps but provides a scalable way for the enterprise to upskill people – and to keep promoting their internal talent.”

Endeit Capital partner, Edwin Hengstmengel, added: “It’s impressive how Lepaya managed to engrain its platform as a core part of its client’s upskilling DNA, and we are very excited to be part of the continued journey.”

Lepaya on doubling down to solve HR’s problems

Talking exclusively to UNLEASH, Lepaya’s CEO and founder René Janssen, shares why now was the right time to raise funds: “We’re in a strange, two-speed world where economic uncertainty is still coupled with near all-time low unemployment rates. This means that organizations are looking for ways to retain & upskill internal talent, while also being mindful of costs.”

He continues: “The hybrid solution we offer at Lepaya beats traditional training as our tech-driven, programmatic approach ensures that learning can be easily translated to daily work life, and our focused use of facilitators means that our solution is also very commercially attractive.

“As a result, the current market is a huge opportunity for us to double down, which was the main motivation for us raising funds now.”

The EdTech giant is particularly doubling down on its product development – with a major focus on AI and how to combine human and artificial intelligence in the learning space.

The influx of funding will ultimately help Lepaya “to better serve our global clients from our offices in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, DACH and China”.

The company’s ultimate aspiration is to support customers to stay competitive in this challenging labor market, by supporting them in internal mobility and upskilling across their entire workforce.

Personalization is top of mind here.

Janssen shares that Lepaya plans “to contextualize our offering across industries. For example, the underlying skills that make a first-time leader successful in pharma and retail might be the same, but the context and situations in which to apply these skills can fundamentally differ according to industry.

“We are investing in allowing clients to contextualize the offering, so that each and every learner gets to practice in exactly the situations that are encountered.”

HR tech at UNLEASH World

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