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Belgian-based training platform, myskillcamp is growing their area of operation by expanding into the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, thanks to the investment of €12 million by five investment agencies.
After seeing this Learning eXperience Platform grow out of the start-up stage quickly; with a 269% year on year growth, and the hiring of over 25 new employees, investment agencies both existing and new to myskillcamp have decided to help the company take on new markets, starting with the UK.
Christian Verdonck, President of Wapinvest; one of the primary investors in myskillcamp in previous years stated “we were keen to support the company during all its fundraisings as we consider myskillcamp to fit perfectly with our strategy of intensifying support for start-ups”.
Kevin Tillier, Founder and CEO of myskillcamp explains, “We are known in Belgium and France but it’s time to break into new markets, and I think we’re ready for it”.
Kevin also expresses that the company is focusing on expanding their sales and marketing tactics and already has a UK team, with plans to open a base in the country later this year.
Mediahuis Ventures, a first-time investor in myskillcamp, explains that they partnered with the training platform as they are impressed by the company’s growth and believe myskillcamp to have “...an exceptional product, that’s super robust, clever and intuitive”.
Mediahuis goes on to detail how myskillcamp has the wide array of solutions on offer as opposed to larger companies that are declining due to having archaic working and training methods. Indeed, with myskillcamp’s mixture of multimedia training tools and expert courses, Mediahuis also saw a similarity between corporate training and what Mediahuis does; giving people access to high-quality information.
Other investors of myskillcamp include Wapinvest and (venture debt provider) Riverside Growth Fund. Alongside Inventures and Conviction VC, who also invested in myskillcamp in 2020.
Repeat impact investor Inventures, states how happy they were with the results on their previous investment, “Everyone likes to see triple digit growth rates, and it has been great to see the team grow substantially, and the client list expand month after month”. Inventures also expresses their excitement in the next stages of myskillcamp, not just growing internationally, but rolling out new technologies that help learners find the best content seamlessly and on the go.
Overall, myskillcamp aims to use the investments to facilitate ‘controlled’ growth. Kevin Tillier explains that the company must scale responsibly, “...growing the team, culture, and the platform together” ensuring that the mistakes of other fast-growing start-ups, doesn’t become their own.
However, those in myskillcamp are confident that the experience and growth gained during the pandemic has prepared them for the next stage of the company’s journey. Afterall, the demand for their platform - and indeed eLearning as a whole - increased greatly, as did the need for new features to make home working and remote onboarding possible for so many companies. Myskillcamp managed to satisfy the demand for new features and has a stronger product because of it, attracting many large companies such as VOO, Apside, Thalys, and Decathlon to their client base.
Myskillcamp’s Chairman, Yvan Gouttebelle reiterates, “The success of the fundraising shows how far myskillcamp has come, but also how much of the journey is left for the company to become a lead provider in B2B employee upskilling, education and life-long learning”.
Current and future developments to achieve the title of ‘lead provider’ in the edTech industry are well underway according to myskillcamp Co-founders Kevin Tillier and Amandine Coutant. Such as newly implemented integrations with expert course providers like Coursera, Udemy Business and Global Exam, helping companies with content creation and curation, using AI to personalise the learning experiences, and even a myskillcamp app.
Yvan Gouttebelle concludes “The team led by Kevin and Amandine has a great track record and now has the financing available to achieve its commercial, innovation and impact goals. I am honored to be supporting them in this journey, and I’m looking forward to seeing the company grow and succeed”.
