Dutch edtech startup begins new chapter with acquisition of training marketplace and $30 million funding

Dutch online learning and development (L&D) platform Studytube has acquired Springest, a top-tier European training-booking marketplace. The Dutch scale-up has also raised $30 million Series B investment round to scale up its product development team and boost European growth.

The funding was led by strategic investment firm Energy Impact Partners (EIP) and existing investor Verdane.

Founded in Amsterdam in 2013 by CEO Homam Karimi, CPO Gerhard Riphagen, COO Sebastiaan Menheere and CTO Stepan Suvorov, Studytube is on a mission to offer an all-in-one learning platform that helps organisations to make employee learning and development easy. It offers mid-sized and large enterprises a full-fledged online learning and development platform through a SaaS-enabled marketplace.

The platform has added over 30 large enterprises to their client roster through the Springest acquisition, further diversifying its customer portfolio. These include renowned organisations like T-Mobile, Vattenfall, Aegon, NS, Eneco, and STORK.

Established in Amsterdam in 2008 by CEO Ruben Timmerman, Springest is an independent comparison website for training programmes and courses. Its learning platforms are active in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, the U.K. and Sweden.

The acquisition, hence accelerates Studytube’s expansion into Germany, Belgium, the Nordics, and the U.K. The company now has over 180 employees, working across offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, and Kharkiv, with plans to soon open offices in the Nordics.

Homam Karimi, CEO of Studytube said: “Owing to the Springest acquisition, our portfolio has instantly grown to over 8,000 learning providers that offer over 250,000 online and offline learning products. In 2021, €50 million worth of learning products were procured through our marketplaces.”

Ruben Timmerman, CEO of Springest said: “By combining our database with Studytube’s online learning and development platform, organisations utilising Springest can search, find and book courses, but also easily organise, manage, and deliver their learning & development in one place.”