Online training company Learning People has scooped $2.5 million investment from Talis Capital, a London-based venture capital firm focused on technology companies.
Learning People’s B2B arm SkillsFox, which serves corporate training and development needs, will also benefit from the investment.
The Talis investment will be used to fuel the companies’ geographical expansion, developing an engaging, user-centric platform and building the range of innovative products for both individual and corporate clients.
The funding boost comes at a time when the corporate e-learning market is worth $12 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11 per cent until 2020, with companies demanding specialist skill sets such as cyber-crime prevention for current and potential employees.
Launched in 2010, Learning People was founded to provide world-class training and examinations to consumers, recognised by a diverse range of exam boards in information security, project management, coding, IT and digital marketing.
Over the last four years, more than 15,000 students have enrolled on to its courses. During this time, the company has significantly expanded course material to customers and has stayed at the forefront of the changing needs of the jobs market, equipping customers with the skills they need to get ahead in their careers.
With the global corporate training market alone estimated to grow at a CAGR of 9.79 per cent over the next four years, the launch of SkillsFox aims to capture the significant opportunity there.
It equips businesses, from SMEs to some of the world’s largest companies, with the tools to upskill their workforce in critical areas such as cyber security, cloud, IT, project management, compliance and leadership skills.
Tony Glass has also joined Learning People and SkillsFox as a member of the advisory board.
Glass will actively provide day-to-day senior counsel to both businesses, drawing on his experience from a distinguished career in the learning and development industry.
Formerly the general manager EMEA of online training company Skillsoft, Glass brings in more than 25 years of leadership, management and operational experience in the sector.
According to the UK Government’s digital skills crisis report, it is estimated that around 90 per cent of jobs require digital skills to some degree and that the skills gap costs the UK economy around £63 billion in lost income a year.
In addition, the cyber security workforce continues to suffer severe work shortages, with the demand expected to rise to 6 million individuals globally by 2019.
“We are excited to partner with Talis, whose expertise in the tech space will be invaluable as we seek to build out our business and further develop our B2B offering,” said Learning People CEO Patrick Aylmer.
“SkillsFox has seen us enter into a space in which we are convinced we can provide invaluable services to employers, allowing them to upskill and retain talent whilst increasing productivity across the workforce.
“The introduction of Tony will be invaluable for the team as we continue to experience rapid growth on the UK and international markets. His ability to scale businesses to serve top-level customers in both B2C and enterprise sectors will bring tremendous value.”
Vasile Foca, Managing Partner at Talis said: “The speed of development in technology is disrupting the way people work, both positively and negatively.
“One of the results is that employees need to gain skills in which they have no experience, or which do not yet exist.
“Learning People is uniquely positioned to meet the existing demand for knowledge and respond to future technological shifts in demand such as the fast-evolving data security sector.”