Platzi, a professional education platform that trains the next generation of technology professionals, has recently raised $60 million in a Series B funding round led by Prosus.
The round also saw participation from Foundation Capital, Y Combinator, 500 Startups, FJ Labs, FundersClub, Hans Tung from GGV, and Darian Shirazi from Gradient.
Founded by Freddy Vega and Christian Van Der Henst in 2014, Platzi seeks to close the talent gap for technology professionals in Latin America, through an effective education for continuous learning, regardless of their backgrounds or prior skills. The platform offers a range of courses including web development, digital marketing, advertising, programming, data science, graphic design, English, soft skills, and more.
Platzi offers pre-recorded materials, weekly live learning sessions, and the option to learn with other students who are online at the same time. Currently, Platzi’s platform is used by thousands of companies to upskill their workforce and improve the knowledge of their teams, and more than 2.5 million students have joined the Platzi community to start their careers in technology. Platzi students have created more than 40 startups that have raised more than a million dollars.
Explaining about the platform, Freddy Vega, Co-founder & CEO of Platzi, said,
“Our methodology was created to help students thrive on learned technology skills, as well as soft skills, languages, and also allow them to create a network of peers to help them get a job as soon as possible or create their own business. Additionally, we give students the tools they need and the support of a community. In a region of great inequality and lack of opportunities like Latin America, this is especially relevant. Every day we see students increase their salary up to ten times after studying at Platzi for a year.”
The company plans to use the funds to expand its educational offering in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, ramp up its offering for businesses and continue building strategic partnerships with tech giants and governments and hire across product development, content development, and sales.
Denis Pedreira, Latin America Investments, Prosus, commented,
“There is a large deficit of tech-focused graduates in Latin America, despite a massive need for corporates to increase their overall technical staff significantly over the next decade. Traditional educational institutions are not equipped to meet the evolving needs of technology students and employers, and Platzi is filling an important gap in the market.”
Platzi currently has offices in Mexico City, Bogota, and San Francisco, with more than 200 employees.
