Employee training platform Masterplan raises $13 million

Built over two rounds, employee training platform Masterplan has raised $13 million in convertible loans. Masterplan’s offer has become increasingly attractive over the past 15 months, with some major German brands jumping on board including Otto Group, VW, and EON. With this fresh influx of capital, the startup intends to further flesh out its software offering and push commercial sales. Including this round, Masterplan has raised just north of $20 million.

Founded in 2017, Masterplan has gone through a bit of a renaissance. Originally coming out of the gate with high-end video content, and yes, the name Masterclass is apropos here, with the likes of Frank Thelen, et al. While strong in concept, it would appear as though masterplan’s thesis didn’t exactly hit the target, with the company reporting, “We no longer shoot hi-fi blockbuster with Frank Thelen & Co., but sell the most intuitive software to digitize companies own training programmes.”

In addition to shifting gears, the startup has recently released its Masterplan Creator platform which allows companies to build their own learning course via a no-code tool.

Residing on the fringes of the edtech space, masterplan saw a sharp uptick in demand due to, well, do I even need to mention the, “stay at home, save lives,” factor here? The company reports a tripling of revenues in 2020 alone.

“Companies suddenly couldn't fly in their global sales staff for product trainings anymore. Onboardings for new colleagues had to be done remotely. Large parts of the workforce were converted to remote and home offices, and many teams found it difficult to organize and motivate themselves,” comments Masterplan founder and CEO Stefan Peukert. “We had digital solutions for all these challenges before Corona. And that gave us a huge boost last year and triggered a development that we believe is irreversible: Offering trainings digitally saves costs, time, and travel while increasing the effectiveness of learning."