Amsterdam-based soft skill scaleup Lepaya secures €35.5M led by Target Global

Lepaya, a provider of soft skill training that combines both online and offline learning, announced that it has secured $40M (approx €35.5M) in the Series B round of funding, making it one of the largest financing rounds to date for an edtech company in Europe. The latest funding brings the total capital raised to $47M (approx €42M). 

The round was led by Target Global, along with the participation from Noor van Boven (formerly N26), Anna Brandt (formerly Mollie), entrepreneurs Jordy Kool (Urban Gym) and Chris Zadeh (formerly Ohpen), as well as existing investors Mediahuis Ventures and Tablomonto.

Peter Kuperus, managing director and co-founder of Lepaya, says, “We are excited to partner with Target Global. The strong interest of leading investors validates and reinforces Lepaya’s approach to preparing organisations and their workforce for the future of work.” 

Fund utilisation

The funding will enable Lepaya to grow its international presence and accelerate its strong momentum across all markets, further consolidating the edtech market in 2022 with targets in Germany, the Nordics, and the UK.

The company is also planning to scale its international team further, doubling its headcount to 200 employees in the coming year. 

René Janssen, CEO and co-founder of Lepaya, says “With the labour market undergoing rapid change, organisations 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.”

How was Lepaya born?

Based out of Amsterdam, Lepaya was established in 2018 by René Janssen and Peter Kuperus, who, based on their experiences in the corporate world and the scaleup scene, saw that there is a need for training courses that sustainably change behaviour. 

The founders believed that providing the right training, at the right time and focused on the right skill, makes corporations more productive. 

How does Lepaya work?

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 programs, 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. The Dutch company tripled its revenue in 2021 and has more than 150 clients, including Microsoft, L’Oréal, Takeaway, Hellofresh, Mollie, Flink, and KPMG.  

Lepaya has local offices in Amsterdam, Berlin and Munich, Stockholm, and London.

Earlier this year, the company expanded its operation into Sweden as a part of its expansion plan. In 2020, the company acquired Smartenup, a training company that supports professionals to work better, faster and smarter with data.

Investors

Based out of Berlin, Target Global is an international investment firm with €3B+ in AuM. The company invests across multiple stages, fast-growing tech companies, targeting trillion Euro markets. 

The Target Global portfolio includes companies such as Auto1, Copper, Delivery Hero, Docplanner, Flink, Rapyd, Revolut, TravelPerk, WeFox, and Zego.

Bao-Y Van Cong, investment director at Target Global, says, “We are excited to make our second investment in the BeNeLux region this year, and are pleased to partner with Lepaya at this exciting moment in their growth journey and support its growth initiatives to upskill the global workforce. With the European EdTech market still lagging behind the US and China, we believe there is an immense growth potential for Lepaya. The company’s international scale creates even more opportunity for the business going forward, with Lepaya planning to consolidate the market further in 2022.”