Amsterdam – Lepaya, EMEA’s leading corporate upskilling solution, acquires Krauthammer, a training provider for senior leadership and commercial excellence to further advance Lepaya’s mission to connect people’s potential to business impact.
The combined company has more than 400 employees across offices in Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Munich, Stockholm, Paris, Zurich, Brussels, and Shanghai, and serves 1,000+ global clients, including Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Dell, KPMG Advisory, ING, and Maersk.
“The consolidation in the upskilling market in EMEA means that Lepaya is ready for growth in other regions. Working with global and US-based customers gives us a deep understanding of a market need for an all-in-one capability platform to bridge global skill gaps and push business innovation,” said René Janssen, Founder and co-CEO of Lepaya.
As companies in the current economic cycle face the challenge of doing more with less, the need for an impactful and scalable upskilling approach is more relevant than ever. The demand for tangible results of learning rises, leading to increased demand for platforms that align impact with innovation and engagement. That is why combining Krauthammer’s deep learning expertise with Lepaya’s proven platform-driven approach marks a major step in the industry, where the combined entity will be the leading player in providing the most-advanced capability platform to clients.
Since launching in 2018, Lepaya has grown through rapid organic expansion and successful acquisitions. From acquiring AI technology companies like Munich-based VCoach (now Lepaya AI-Coach), Amsterdam-based Smartenup to the recent acquisition of London-based SpeakFirst, Lepaya has successfully integrated product portfolios and helped existing, world-class portfolios and solutions accelerate their societal impact by scaling faster and reaching more companies and learners.
Lepaya received $40 million in a Series B round of funding in December 2021, backed by VC-firm Target Global.
“We are unique in that our technology can prove that employees, after having gone through our programs, truly apply the skills we teach on the job,” said Peter Kuperus, co-CEO of Lepaya. “No other European player can do this at scale”.
Lepaya’s technology has proven that by combining VR technology with facilitated learning, learning transfer goes up by 20%. As innovation becomes more important also for Krauthammer clients, the acquisition by Lepaya came as a logical next step in its mission to remain on the forefront of the training industry.
“I’m really excited to have Krauthammer and Lepaya join forces,” said Frans van Kreuningen, CEO of Krauthammer. “By combining Krauthammer’s long-standing training quality, in combination with delivering it at scale with Lepaya’s platform and the AI and VR-powered technology, we will be able to upskill and transform companies at every level of the organization.”
The acquisition of Krauthammer is a major step forward for Lepaya and positions them as a leader in providing a platform to boost productivity and retention of workforces across some of the world’s largest organizations.
“In just our 5th year of existence, we will touch the lives of more than 250,000 employees, while aiming to eventually help the full global workforce of 3.3 billion,” Janssen added.
About Lepaya
Lepaya is an upskilling solution that focuses on increasing talent retention and productivity through a blend of online, offline, and virtual reality training through an all-in-one capability platform. Founded by René Janssen and Peter Kuperus in 2018 with the perspective that the right training, at the right time, focused on the right skill, makes organizations productive and enables overall business growth.
As a challenger in a crowded training market, Lepaya responds to the needs of Europe’s fastest growing tech companies, such as Mollie, Takeaway, and Picnic, as well as giants like L’oreal, KPMG, ING and PwC. Lepaya enables thousands of professionals by combining hard skills with soft skills, offered together as Power Skills.
Lepaya is backed by Target Global, Mediahuis Ventures, and Tablomonto. The company has raised USD 47 million to date.
About Krauthammer
Krauthammer leverages a rich heritage of excellence in bringing out the best in people, with over 50 years training managers, sales teams and leaders worldwide.
Over 120 trainers deliver hands-on, action-based training in over 20 languages, using a unique 6-step methodology to achieve long-lasting results. Krauthammer clients choose them for the brand’s impactful training experiences that lead to sustainable success for both individuals and organizations.
Media contacts:
Milda Skladaityte | Global Head of Brand, Lepaya
[email protected]
+491736328843
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