In the wake of a growing skills shortage, Amsterdam-based Lepaya has just closed a €35 million Series B investment for its power skills training that combines online and offline learning.
The round was led by Target Global, and joined by Noor van Boven, Anna Brandt, entrepreneurs Jordy Kool and Chris Zadeh, as well as existing investors Mediahuis Ventures and Tablomonto.
Founded by René Janssen and Peter Kuperus in 2018, Lepaya has been established with the belief that the right training at the right time is key to making organisations more productive. By combining hard skills with soft skills, offered together as ‘Power Skills’, the startup is making itself a strong challenger in the growing European edtech market, in which the demand for reskilling and upskilling continues to increase.
The global training and development sector is worth billions and this has only been accelerated by the pandemic. According to Lepaya, it’s estimated that 50% of all employees globally will need to be upskilled by 2025, and it’s a leading cause for companies to lose talent.
Companies are now shifting investment to focus on upskilling their own talent as a core part of business strategy – providing their workforce with the necessary skills to grow sustainably. Lepaya aims to fill the skill gaps of the workforce by empowering professionals worldwide to be more effective in their ways of working.
It’s been an exciting year for the edtech company which in 2020 acquired Smartenup, and made it on to our list of startups to watch this year. Already more than 150 clients rely on Lepaya’s services, including Microsoft, L’Oréal, Takeaway, Hellofresh, Mollie, Flink, and KPMG.
With this new funding boost, Lepaya will continue to drive its mission to make multinational corporations and fast-growing companies more productive by upskilling their workforce. The company will deepen the personalization of its training programmes and drive the integration of the learning experience into office productivity systems, facilitating impactful and easy-to-access training in a remote setting. This will ultimately help companies close the skill gap of their workforce in a rapidly changing labour market.
René Janssen, CEO and co-founder of Lepaya commented: “With the labour market undergoing rapid change, organizations face a huge skill gap. The lack of upskilling options is one of the top three reasons employees want to leave the company they are working for. At the same time, leaders need to understand and train for the challenges of the 21st century including remote work and empower their employees to grow. They must transform their workforce to drive productivity and growth as well as mitigate employee attrition. Lepaya anticipates this shift by providing training for power skills that make employees fit for the future of work. The investment showcases the immense potential of education technology, helping companies build a culture of learning and development.”
With their mobile learning app, companies across all industries can tailor training to employees’ and executives’ needs and career paths. Lepaya combines over 50 soft and hard skill training modules into effective power skill development programs, offering learning interventions, and real-time data on learner behaviour and impact. In addition, the solution is fully compatible with Teams and Slack – so it’s accessible from anywhere and everywhere.
Lepaya will also use the new investment to continue to grow its international presence and accelerate momentum to further expand the European edtech reach. Key targets include Germany, the Nordics and the UK. Lepaya is already active across the globe with local offices in Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Berlin and Munich (Germany), Stockholm (Sweden), and London (UK). The startup will also scale its international team with plans to double its headcount to 200 employees in the coming year.
The company’s learning approach encourages employees to apply their learnings, upskilling a company’s workforce for strong and sustainable business performance and growth.
