- The Series B was led by Round2 Capital, with participation from existing investors Adjuvo, Brighteye Ventures, FJ Labs, Ascension Ventures, and a host of prominent angels, including Octopus founder and CEO Simon Rogerson.
- An edtech, online marketplace, Zen Educate matches schools with staff absent to the best available teachers, reducing costs and improving the match-quality
- The funding will enable the rapid expansion of operations in the US and UK, solidifying its position as the leading provider of temporary educators and the launch of several new SaaS products for school administration.
- Zen Educate has also completed its second acquisition, Aquinas Education, a leading education staffing agency, and has appointed former footballer and TV Presenter Jermaine Jenas as an official brand ambassador.
- Through its cost-effective approach, educators working through the Zen Educate platform have saved the education system over USD 25m that would have been wasted on agency fees.
London/Vienna, May 24th, 2024 – Round2 Capital leads USD 37m Series B of the UK-based Education Tech online marketplace Zen Educate.
Zen Educate, an Education Tech online marketplace that matches schools with staff absent to the best available teachers, reducing costs and improving the match-quality, has successfully closed a USD 37m Series B. It was led by Round2 Capital, with support from existing investors Adjuvo, Brighteye Ventures, FJ Labs, Ascension Ventures, and prominent angels, including Octopus founder and CEO Simon Rogerson. This marks the largest rounds in European Education Tech this year.
The funding will empower Zen Educate to complete several additional acquisitions in the UK and the US and further expand its operations in both markets. Additionally, the investment will facilitate the scaling of the company’s new school workforce management software, which includes SaaS products for credentialing, compliance, and absence management.
Each year, schools and nurseries globally spend over USD 55b on temporary staffing due to costly recruitment agency fees, outdated technology, and poor matches. With recruitment agencies charging an average margin of 35 percent per match in a highly fragmented market, Zen Educate offers a modern, algorithm-based solution that directly connects schools with the right set of teachers for the job.
The platform enables teachers and schools to create profiles and match their compatibility based on proximity, skills, and experience. This results in faster and more accurate matches, reducing hiring costs and enabling educational institutions to allocate resources more effectively, benefiting both teachers and schools.
Educators working through the Zen Educate platform have delivered over two million hours of education in the past 12 months, saving the education system over USD 25m that would have been wasted on agency fees through its cost-effective approach.
Slava Kremerman, co-founder and CEO of Zen Educate, said, “We’ve been on a mission to solve schools’ workforce challenges. This investment brings us closer to our goal of helping the education system save over USD 125m annually through our fairer, more efficient recruitment model. As we enter into the next phase of our journey, we aim to reach out to more educational institutions across the UK and US.”
Facilitating this mission, Zen Educate acquired Opus Education in February 2023 and more recently, Aquinas Education which was co-owned by television presenter and former footballer Jermaine Jenas, who will join Zen Educate as a brand ambassador.
Brand ambassador Jermaine Jenas, added, “I’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative impact Zen Educate has. What sets us apart from other tech companies is our simplicity. By eliminating unnecessary costs, Zen Educate empowers schools to prioritize what truly matters: delivering high-quality teaching, investing in better pay for educators, and focusing on the young minds of the future.”
Zen Educate currently operates in 11 regions across the UK and five states in the US, with plans to expand its reach further across the US in the next two years. Through strategic acquisitions in both markets, the company aims to consolidate a fragmented market and transform the educational staffing sector on a global scale.
Christian Czernich, co-founder and CEO of Round2 Capital, added, “Zen Educate has been successful in solving a significant challenge faced by educational facilities on a daily basis. The team’s deep understanding of the edtech landscape is evident, and their remarkable growth, nearly fivefold over the last 24 months, is a testament to their effectiveness.”
About Zen Educate
Zen Educate is a simple, streamlined online platform that connects schools directly with teachers and teaching assistants, helping teachers earn more while saving schools money. Founded by Slava Kremerman and Oren Cohen, the company is on a mission to change the world of education recruitment. It is headquartered in London and has offices in three other UK cities and two in the US. Since its launch in 2017, the company has tripled in size year-on-year and is approaching nearly two million hours of cover booked on its platform in the last 12 months.
For more information about Zen Educate, please visit: www.zeneducate.com
About Round2 Capital
Round2 Capital is a fast-growing pan-European growth investment firm with EUR 180m under management. Based in London and Vienna, the firm is a strong partner for European scale-ups and companies with digital and sustainable business models. Since its foundation in 2017, Round2 Capital has been pioneering revenue-based finance in Europe and is active in several European countries with both revenue-based finance and growth equity investments. To date, Round2 Capital has invested in 36 different software and technology scale-ups across 9 jurisdictions.
Round2 Capital is backed by the European Investment Fund (EIF) to support technology companies in the European Union. Round2 Capital Partners II is partially funded under the so-called “Mezzanin Dachfonds für Deutschland Fazilität 2”, a facility managed by EIF for the ERP Sondervermögen, represented by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (“Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie”), LfA-Gesellschaft für Vermögensverwaltung mbH and NRW.Bank Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts.
For more information about Round2 Capital, please visit: www.round2cap.com
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Press contact Round2 Capital:
Julian Bejer | jb@round2cap.com | +43 150 300 34
Press contacts Zen Educate:
Cathy White | cathy@cewcomms.com | +44 (0)7791 232834
Shruti Makharia | shruti@cewcomms.com | +44 (0)7721 800056
