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London-based edtech zick learn has today, announced it has secured £430,000 in funding to increase its headcount and accelerate growth throughout the UK and across Europe.
This latest round was led by renowned Italian edtech investment firm Zanichelli Venture, and backed by a number of angel investors. With an office in London, zick learn is an innovative text-based microlearning platform that aims to revolutionise the training process for companies and their staff. It delivers lessons to their mobiles through platforms such as WhatsApp and Slack and can be integrated into existing IT structures to help transform corporate training, empower education for deskless workers.
This funding will see the business increase its global headcount by 50 percent, and will enable zick learn to further develop its product offering, and extend its reach to new platforms. Today’s announcement will expedite integration into several new platforms, including Google Chat and Instagram, ensuring learning is just one text away.
Traditional methods of corporate training, such as slideshows and online seminars, have become a source of frustration among modern employees. Disrupting the flow of work and often taking up large chunks of time, workers often switch off or turn training into box-ticking exercises. Leveraging spaced learning and micro learning approaches to deliver simple and effective lessons to modern workforces, zick learn allows companies to deliver training through the corporate chat clients, applications and platforms that employees are already using. Its mission is to transform tiresome work training processes, making enterprise learning fast, simple and efficient, and enabling users to frictionlessly engage with corporate training in their flow of work.
According to a report from RPS Research, microlearning improves focus and long-term retention by up to 80% – almost double that of traditional learning. Today’s funding announcement coincides with a significant growth trajectory in the global edtech sector. A report from IMARC confirmed that the European elearning market was valued at more than €60 billion in 2022, with this figure projected to almost double by 2028.
Established in Ireland in late 2021, zick learn recently expanded into the UK market with the opening of its Finchley office in London. The company is not afraid to take bold, creative risks, and in the midst of the Russia/Ukraine conflict, the company recruited a team of skilled Ukrainian professionals to work in engineering. The firm’s primary product team is based in Lviv in Western Ukraine, overseeing its technical development and building of the product.
Announcing this latest round of funding, zick learn’s CEO and Co-founder, Matteo Penzo, said: “This is a hugely exciting time for all of us here at zick learn. We believe that the traditional elearning system is broken, and that learning is never a one-size-fits-all activity. This is particularly the case in the modern world, with workforces made up of multi-generational age groups, such as Baby Boomers and Generation Z. Our ambition is to empower people with knowledge and to further the message that the future of corporate training is just one text away. Through this funding, we plan to expand our capabilities and propel zick learn to the forefront of the elearning market here in the United Kingdom and indeed across Europe.”
Speaking about the investment in zick learn, Enrico Poli, Director of Zanichelli Venture said: “We are delighted to be able to join zick learn on this journey. Current, concise and convenient, the technology is unique in its ability to reach a diverse audience, ensuring that learning is just one text away. The last couple of years have been really interesting, with so much innovation in the edtech and digital learning space. zick learn is doing something entirely new and we see great potential in its drive to shake up the approach to corporate learning and development.”