Archipel Academy, the all-in-one learning platform for organisations, has recently raised €13 million from Pride Capital Partners and acquired Edubookers, a leading booking platform for training courses.
The Zaltbommel-based company aims to become the leading European platform in the field of training and courses. According to a news release, the latest investment will be used for both autonomous growth as well as a buy-and-build strategy, with which Archipel Academy is setting its sights on the European market, including Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
Archipel Academy is one of the fastest-growing Dutch EdTech platforms, which offers all tools and services that enable organisations to offer training courses to employees on a single platform. The platform offers access to over 2,000 trainers and 70,000 training courses.
Commenting on the development, Omar Zakaria Fouab, Founder and CEO of Archipel Academy, said,
“The growth budget and acquisition of Edubookers will help us serve our combined clients even better by offering greater economies of scale among other things. In addition, this step brings us closer to our goal of creating a European marketplace with access to the best trainers in all of Europe.”
With the new investment, Archipel acquired Edubookers, the booking platform for training courses. The acquisition will enable Archipel to make the catalogue available at European level by the end of this year, said a statement.
Paul Schrama, CEO of Edubookers, said,
“The corona pandemic has made it clear that Lifelong Development is crucial for Dutch companies and citizens. More and more initiatives that encourage this are being deployed both by governments and in collective labour agreements. Herein lies an important focus on individual learning budgets. Edubookers is putting this into practice with different LLD platforms and the Learning Account. We found the desired partner to expand our leading position in Archipel.”
Edubookers has been the leading independent booking platform for training courses since 2015. Over 1,300 trainers offer over 70,000 learning products. As the hub of learning in the Netherlands, Edubookers also gives substance to the learning account and numerous Lifelong Development platforms. Edubookers now offers over 100,000 participants an individual learning budget in which self-management is central.
Per a statement, Edubookers will continue operating from Eindhoven and will focus on Lifelong Development (LLD) platforms and The Learning Account under the same name.
Lars van’t Hoenderdaal, Managing Partner at Pride Capital Partners, said on the investment,
“In recent years, Archipel Academy has developed a scaleable product that completely unburdens large international organisations in respect of training courses. Archipel Academy’s unique proposition translates into short sales cycles and satisfied clients. Pride Capital Partners looks forward to supporting the management team in the roll-out of autonomous growth plans on one hand, and achieving strategic acquisitions on the other. We see Archipel Academy as the new Spotify or Netflix of training courses.”
Archipel Academy has been active as a broad learning partner with its all-in-one AI-driven learning platform since 2018. The company’s services now comprise an AI-driven learning platform that allows employees to focus on their development goals, as well as learning services, which offer organisations the ability to manage learning programmes. Archipel also has a learning consultancy department that offers custom learning advice and activation campaigns.
Archipel’s growth plans encompass the expansion of its offering and further development of the platform. In addition, the company is working on its unique ‘unlimited learning’ proposition, which gives unlimited access to learning programmes and exams. As a shareholder and financier, Pride Capital Partners will continue to support Archipel Academy in the roll-out of its growth plans in both a financial and strategic role.
