Mexican vocational training platform Aprende Institute raised a US$1.6m seed round with participation from Angel Ventures, Artisan Venture Capital, 500 Startups, and Claure Group.
(Press Release) Miami, Florida. April 20th 2020 – Aprende Institute, the leading online education platform for vocational skills training in the US hispanic market and LATAM, has raised $1.6 million in seed funding from Angel Ventures through its AV Pacific Alliance Fund II LP, Artisan Venture Capital, 500 Startups, Claure Group and Latin American angel investors.
Aprende Institute offers a wide range of online training courses and diplomados that allow their students to acquire skills needed to start their own business or a new career in areas of high demand, and earn extra income. Aprende’s technology platform not only allows for flexible, on-demand learning on any device, but also monitors student progress and prompts connections between teachers, tutors and learners to help students persist through the diplomados.
“There is a gap in vocational training, especially in Latin America. We see a great opportunity in offering a flexible, high-quality and affordable training alternative that allows people to improve, renew or increase their vocational skills and stay updated both on the job market as well as in the entrepreneurial world” says Martin Claure, CEO and Founder of Aprende Institute.
Aprende Institute’s education offering is distributed in five schools: a) Gastronomy (also known as Gastronómica Internacional), b) Business and Entrepreneurship, c) Wellness, d) Trade Skills, e) Fashion and Beauty.
“We aim for a high quality educational offering that effectively trains students in the skills demanded by the job market. According to studies led by the Interamerican Development Bank (IDB) on the future of work, the jobs with the most growth will be those that require skills that are not easily replaced by robots or algorithms, such as food preparation or wellness. Our courses prepare students to face these upcoming labor market changes”, mentions Martin Claure.
Today, most of Aprende Institute’s students are from the USA, Mexico and Colombia. Expansion will follow to other countries in the Latin America region, including Chile, Peru and Argentina, and eventually Brazil. The company’s goal is to become the leading vocational training platform in Latin America and US Hispanic market.
With this investment round, Aprende Institute will continue the expansion of its educational offering, improving its technology and building a digital community to link its students, gig workers and freelancers to support each other and share best practices, learnings, and emerging trends.
“We are obsessed with helping our students succeed and will continue to support them by developing new courses, continuously improving our product and leveraging data to provide more personalized follow-up and intrusive advising for our students. Aprende Institute is an ecosystem totally focused on delivering a learning experience that will allow our students to progress and succeed” indicates the CEO and Founder of Aprende Institute.
According to TheEdvocate, Latin America is now the fourth largest edtech market in the world – behind North America, Western Europe, and Asia in terms of revenue. It has grown by over 14 percent annually since 2013. Moreover, ResearchAndMarkets.com estimates that it will generate revenues of over $3 billion by 2023. Aprende Institute is leaning into this opportunity and strives to make an impact by improving its students’ quality of life.
About Aprende Institute:
Aprende is an online learning platform, focused on providing our students with the knowledge and skills necessary to professionalize their trade and start a profitable business. Our micro-learning strategy serves the population throughout Latin America and the US Hispanic market with practical, accessible and fast learning courses, with interactive formats and constant evaluations. Aprende Institute is built upon the previous experience of Gastronómica Internacional and Instituto Americano de Formación Digital, as well as the support of accelerators and investment funds such as 500 Startups, Angel Ventures México and Artisan Capital.
For more information visit https://corp.aprende.com/
About Artisan Venture Capital:
Artisan Venture Capital provides strategic guidance, investment, and tools to help early-stage businesses prepare for intelligent and sustainable growth. Our team works to identify businesses throughout the United States, Latin America, and Canada in need of a combination of early-stage capital and marketing and advertising guidance. We have helped businesses develop digital marketing strategies, create and build brands, execute strategic media campaigns, and build their front and back- end consumer websites all while supplying requisite capital to fuel growth.We believe in long-term partnerships and responsible business practices, choosing to focus on leaders who are committed to sustainable profitability while impacting everyday lives.
https://www.artisanmedia.com/capital/
About 500 Startups:
500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. It is one of the most active venture capital firms in the world.
Since its inception in Silicon Valley, 500 Startups has invested in over 2,400 companies via its 5 global funds and 17 thematic funds dedicated to either specific geographic markets or verticals. Its 100+ team members are located in 20 countries around the world in order to support the 500 Startups global portfolio of investments which spans more than 75 countries.
Notable investments in the 500 portfolio include Credit Karma, Twilio, Canva, Grab, Bukalapak, The RealReal, Talkdesk, Knotel, Udemy, and Ipsy.
For more information, please visit https://500.co/
About AV Pacific Alliance Fund:
Angel Ventures is a Venture Capital firm that helps startups grow by providing them with capital investments, incubator ecosystems and strategic guidance. AV’s multidisciplinary team has extensive experience working in private equity firms, investment funds, mergers, acquisitions, and strategy for multinationals.
AV began in 2008 with AV Network, connecting angel investors with startups and ultimately helping startups to obtain USD$14 million in investments. In 2013, AV created the first multi-sector co- investment fund in Mexico, investing in 19 startups. In the same year, AV also created Archetype, a high-impact incubator that has now hosted more than 38 companies, which together have obtained more than $10 million in investments. In 2016, AV proudly launched its second investment fund, targeted at innovative startups located in the countries of the Pacific Alliance.
For more information, see http://angelventures.vc/en