Offering live digital training for businesses lands €5 million for Berlin-based edtech Junto

As the war for talents and the era of the Great Resignation continue, it is clear to most companies that the career-long development of their employees is one of the highest impact levers to future-proof their business. Yet, most organisations work with an inefficient puzzle of different training providers, freelance coaches and internal learning and development programmes.

On the back of €1.2 million in funding from 40+ well-known angel investors three months ago, Berlin-based edtech startup Junto has now raised €5 million in a new round. The funding was led by Earlybird with participation from Picus Capital, Emerge Capital and over 10 angel investors.

The German platform will use the funding to accelerate building its team, developing its proprietary software platform and broadening its content and instructor ecosystem.

Up until now, the €400 billion market for corporate training remains 90% offline. Junto wants to change that. Founded by Marius Hepp, Johannes Schnell-Kretschmer and Feliks Eyser, Junto combines a scalable learning platform with interactive online trainings and a cross-company peer community.

A key difference to first-generation learning platforms is the hybrid connection of online content with an interactive live experience and cohort-based learner community. According to the company, while less than 13% of the courses started on Udemy, Coursera or LinkedIn Learning are actually finalised, Junto’ cohort-based approach enables a completion rate of over 95%.

Co-founder Marius Hepp said: "Our vision goes far beyond a learning platform. With Junto, we democratize the access for talents & organizations across the globe to directly learn from world-class tech operators. This provides them with the opportunity to unleash their full professional potential."

Paul Klemm, partner at Earlybird said: “Talent development is key for the long-term success of every company. Yet, B2B education has remained largely unchanged for decades. We are convinced that Junto’s operator-driven and community-based approach will make corporate learning significantly more effective.”