Educapital closes second EdTech fund

Founded in 2017, Educapital aims to address challenges facing the European education sector; namely inequalities and inconsistencies in training both at school and in the workplace. It wanted to invest in EdTech and future of work startups that relied on digital innovation to drive change.

COVID-19 has accelerated the transition to online learning and working, and therefore acted as a catalyst for investment in the EdTech sector.

In this context, Educapital has closed its second fund. Called Educapital 2, the fund is €100 million, but the final close is targeted at €150 million.

Investors include BpiFrance, Hachette Livre, Education for the Many, Bayard, Les Editions Francis Lefebvre, the Jacobs Foundation, UMR, BNP Paribas Innovation, Arkea, and Matmut Revital Emploi.

Talking about the fund, Marie-Christine Levet, founder and partner of Educapital, commented: “We are only at the beginning of this revolution in education: the market is estimated to be worth $500 billion by 2025.

“More than ever, our thesis of investing in Edtech and the Future of Work makes sense.”

Hachette Livre deputy CEO Fabrice Bakhouche added: “As a founding member of Educapital, Hachette Livre is pleased to participate in this second fund to support the rapid growth of the Edtech ecosystem in Europe.

“This participation reflects the central place that Hachette Livre devotes to innovation, to better anticipate and take advantage of all the opportunities offered by digital technology in the field of education.”

Nicolas Dufourcq, Bpifrance CEO, continued: “Bpifrance is pleased to renew its confidence in Educapital, whose mission is perfectly aligned with our strategy of supporting the players who are shaping the schools and training of tomorrow.

“Since its creation, Educapital has been able to position itself as a pioneer in all segments of EdTech and today plays a key role in this ecosystem by contributing to the emergence of future French leaders in education.”

Inside Educapital’s portfolio to date

Educapital has invested in 22 European EdTech and future of work companies over the past five years – it is particularly focused on investing in diverse companies.

To date, 40% of its portfolio companies have been co-founded by women, this is much higher than the 10% market average. In addition, Educapital has seen two exits and follow-up investments

But who are the stars of Educapital’s portfolio?

Collaborative learning SaaS startup 360Learning is one noteworthy example. They raised $200 million in an investment round in October, which Educapital participated in.

🚀 @Educapital is proud to invest in our portfolio company @360Learning $200m round, led by @SumeruEP, @Softbank Investment Advisers and @silverlake_news. It’s the largest amount raised by a French #edtech to date.https://t.co/OPAyym2VOb

— Educapital (@Educapital_vc) October 21, 2021

Writing in medium, co-founder and managing partner Litzie Maarek commented: “Educapital is proud to participate again, alongside Bpifrance and XAnge.

“This round will help them to accelerate strongly in Europe and the US, to continue recruiting talented and motivated people, to grow the team to over 500 people, to invest in strategic M&A.

“It will also facilitate continued investment in their strong product and allow them to leverage the power of AI to personalize learning and make it even more efficient.

“360Learning has already done a lot. But this is still just the beginning. And we totally trust them to become the number one player worldwide.

And since then, 360Learning has acquired another EdTech startup, Looop, for $20 million.

Nick Hernandez, founder and CEO of 360Learning, said: “Together, 360Learning and Looop will build a new era of collaborative learning where subject matter experts are fully utilized, L&D workflows are fully automated, and L&D professionals go from admins to true collaborative operators with a laser focus on data-driven performance.”

Another example is French online entrepreneur coaching startup LiveMentor. In October 2021, Educapital participated in its €11 million round – alongside Ring Capital, Impact Partners and ISAI. This came on the back of a 2019 investment into the mentoring company.

“Beyond the product, it is also and above all the LiveMentor team that motivated our desire to reinvest, noted Maarek and Levet in a medium post.

“LiveMentor fits perfectly with our impact investment thesis — investing in companies that combine financial performance and social impact.

“And in this respect, we are proud to say that LiveMentor has trained more than 14,000 people since 2016. Its impact of overlooked and underserved populations is significant. 67% of LiveMentor entrepreneurs are women.”

The final example is Supermood, a French employee engagement and happiness startup. Educapital invested in Supermood back in 2020. Alongside BrightEye Ventures and Citizen Capital it invested €5 million to improve employee listening and happiness.

Talking about the investment, Supermood co-founder and CEO Kevin Bourgeois commented: “We are committed to improving our services at all times and adapting to the economic and social changes that affect companies.

“This renewal of the confidence and investment made in Supermood will enable us to extend our services beyond borders and to continue our journey towards becoming the leading operating system powering the managerial decision-making process. Our field truly is a fascinating universe, which we endeavor to explore.”

Watch this space to see what Educapital spends its latest €100 million on. Could these be the future of the EdTech space?