Funding rounds
The e-learning sector has attracted the attention of the investors in 2013, being the protagonist of several rounds. Most of these rounds have been first rounds and seed rounds, but we can also find some examples of large financing rounds.
One of the seed capital companies that has received funding is Qranio. Qranio, a Brazilian company that offers online games for users to learn by playing. Founded in January 2013, it received in the same month $75k from Wayra, $350k from Wayra, $350k from Wayra and $350k from Wayra. business Angel Gui Affonso and $150k of Samir Iásbeck de Oliveira.
Sympozthe interactive online learning platform using the Time Index technique, last December 2013 received a $35M round led by Adams Street Partners.
"This American company, founded in 2010, had already received 2 financing rounds more, the first of them by $6M, in 2011 led by Harrison Metal and Foundry Group , y the second of $15M, which involved Harrison Metal, Foundry Group and Tiger Global Management"comments Diego Guiterrez, alternative finance expert of the group. Abra- Invest.
Tech M&A
In 2013, a number of acquisitions were made in the sector, such as the purchase from LearnSomething by Xerox, that of TrainSignal, PeepCode and lTekpub by PluralSight .
American Xenox, the world's largest supplier of toner copiers and their accessories, made several acquisitions in 2013, entering new technology-related markets. The latest of these purchases was LearnSomething, an e-learning platform offering multimedia solutions for health care. This company had received in 2006 a financing round of $2M, led by Noro-Moseley Partners.
Pluralsight que ofrece cursos de formación on-line y cuenta de con más de 200.000 usuarios en más de 100 países, realizó 3 acquisitions en el año 2013. La primera de ellas realizada en Julio fue PeepCode, empresa que ofrece videos tutoriales para expertos diseñadores y desarrolladores web. Un mes después, bought by $23.6M TrainSignal, a company dedicated to the production and marketing of video tutorials on topics such as Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA and VMware. In November it bought lTekpub, a company also dedicated to training in the world of technology.
“La estrategia de crecimiento vía acquisitions seguida por Pluralsight le ha permitido un rápido crecimiento ampliando el portfolio de sectores a los que se dirige y su expansión internacional” comenta Diego Guiterrez.
Activity in Spain
Edukame.com platform to contribute to the educational process of children aged 0 to 6 years, received a financing round 100,000 in December 2012, to complete the team with marketing, content management and logistics profiles, as well as to execute user acquisition strategies through SEM, affiliate marketing and email marketing.
In this financing round Both private and public investors participated, thanks to a loan granted by Enisa. Among the Business Angels was Antonio Bernal, CEO of Memento, who not only contributed capital, but also provided the startup with know-how derived from his experience in other projects in the children's sector, as well as potential contacts to take advantage of synergies between his other companies.
Recently EAmida, the most complete Spanish company for e-learning training in the market, aimed at any type of training organisation or company that provides training to its employees or clients, has signed an agreement with the American company V3Biz to internationalise its market offer in the development of software applications specialised in online training.
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