Just months after acquiring Germany’s vCOACH, Amsterdam-based Lepaya acquires London’s Speak First

Amsterdam-based soft skill scaleup Lepaya has announced today that it has acquired London-based Speak First, a company that offers communication and leadership training for managers and leaders. 

With this deal, Lepaya’s learning platform will gain additional scalability to optimise the learning effect for current and potential customers using Speak First’s product.

René Janssen, CEO and co-founder of Lepaya, says, “We are growing fast, and see both organic and inorganic growth as opportunities to transform the way enterprise companies build learning cultures. I am excited to add Speak First to our portfolio and continue to push the envelope in relevance, quality, context, and technology. With Speak First on board, we not only extend our reach but take the next step in challenging traditional L&D players.”

This acquisition comes right after the Dutch company acquired Munich-based vCOACH, a startup that provides virtual training for communication skills improvement. 

Professional training and coaching

Founded in 1982 and currently led by CEO Amanda Vickers, Speak First is a global consultancy company specialising in communication and leadership skills training and coaching. 

Drawing upon neuroscience, the psychology of learning and business experience, Speak First says it has a deep understanding of how people grow, learn and change to demonstrate the capabilities, behaviours and competencies required.

The company’s areas of expertise include presentation skills, personal impact, media training, selling and negotiation skills, business writing, NLP for Business and other interpersonal and communication skills training to improve workplace effectiveness and career success.

Aim of this acquisition

Lepaya chose to acquire Speak First to speed up innovation in the more conventional L&D area after realising the impact Speak First had on its international clientele over the course of the past 30+ years.

Lepaya offers Power Skills training that is strengthened by technology and a scalable learning approach, enabling businesses to upskill their staff. The company also makes sure that employees gain skills that increase their effectiveness and resilience by using a combination of online and offline learning methods.

Lepaya and Speak First both focus on corporations with a global reach, like Microsoft, L’Oreal, KPMG, ING, Dell, or PwC.

According to Lepaya, enterprise companies require scalable training techniques that address the particular set of problems these businesses face in order to stay competitive and future-proof. Employees may advance their careers and increase organisational value by focusing on their Power Skills. This development is now possible at any level of a person’s career, from new hires to more senior management, thanks to the acquisition.

Amanda Vickers, CEO of Speak First, says, “We have over 30 years of experience educating and training senior managers. But we also want to continue to develop ourselves as a company. By joining a high-growth, ambitious player like Lepaya, we can become truly transformational and empower our customers with modern learning technology and methodologies.”

Upskill workforce to its full potential

Founded in 2018 by René Janssen and Peter Kuperus, Lepaya is a provider of power skills training that combines online and offline learning. The company believes that the right training at the right time and focusing on the right skill makes organisations more productive.

The company has built a mobile learning app that allows companies across all industries to tailor training as per employees’ and executives’ needs. The platform combines over 50 soft and hard skill training modules into power skill development programmes, offering learning interventions and real-time data on learner behaviour and impact.

Lepaya’s services are integrated with Microsoft Teams and Slack, reducing classroom time by 50 per cent. Currently, the company has offices in Amsterdam, Munich, Berlin, London, and Stockholm, and serves its customers worldwide. It is backed by Target Global, Mediahuis Ventures, and Tablomonto and has raised $47M in funding, to date.

In 2020, Lepaya acquired Smartenup, a training company that supports professionals to work better, faster, and smarter with data.