Target Global Leads $40 Million Funding Round for Edtech Lepaya

(Bloomberg) -- Lepaya, an Amsterdam-based educational technology startup, has raised $40 million from investors to help grow its business providing skills training to corporate workers.

The Series B funding round was led by venture capital firm Target Global, which has previously backed European startups including Revolut Ltd. and Delivery Hero SE, Lepaya said in a statement. Existing investors Mediahuis Ventures and Tablomonto also participated in the round, which takes the firm’s total capital raised to $47 million.

Founded in 2018, Lepaya has worked with companies such as L’Oreal SA and KPMG to offer educational opportunities to workers in areas including leadership and communication. 

“The skills that are needed to effective and be competitive today, they keep evolving,” Lepaya Chief Executive Officer Rene Janssen said in an interview. “Our clear focus is there on skills that won’t be robotized away.”

The new investment will allow the company to fund acquisitions, product development and international expansion as it aims to double its employee headcount to 200 workers. Lepaya will focus on expanding in Germany, the Nordics and the U.K., and Janssen said it’s also exploring entering the U.S.

Amid tight labor markets, offering learning and development is a good way for companies to retain employees, according to Bao-Y Van Cong, an investment director at Target Global. 

“We felt like there was an opportunity of edtech companies being underfunded” in Europe, she said in an interview. 

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