It’s a new mega fundraiser that could have stayed under the radar. 360Learning and its founder Nicolas hernandez are rather discreet, but for this round of 200 million dollars, it was necessary to make it known, explains the entrepreneur: “As in 2018 when we had carried out an operation without revealing it, I wanted to do the same with this one . But to exist in the United States, you have to make noise. “
The United States is the country where the young company specializing in the training of employees in companies is experiencing the strongest growth. Since 2019 and a fundraising of 41 million which allowed him to set foot in it, 360Learning has already come a long way, summarizes Nicolas Hernandez: “The last operation allowed us to build a sales team and a product in line with market demand. We first sent a Frenchman there to lead development, but the cultural gap is too large. One of the board advisers told me that the difference between France and the United States was greater than between France and China. I totally agree with it, we think in a very different way. “
A cultural divide with the US
The entrepreneur then recruits a team of Americans, which quickly translates into better performance. The thorniest point to resolve was that of marketing, says the manager: “Often, the French think that Americans like companies that sell dreams, when they are above all attracted by functional performance. We have therefore changed the way we present the benefits of our platform for employees and this has multiplied the transformation rate by 4. “
The dynamic seems to be underway, and the Parisian start-up now has some flagships of the North American economy on its hunt, such as Air Canada or GateHouse Media, completing a list of customers which already includes groups such as Veolia or Galeries. Lafayette. In a few years, the young shoot has succeeded in convincing 1,500 clients who deliver a total of 3 million courses each month, thanks to a collaborative approach.
When a subject emerges among the different demands of employees, experts in the company can suggest building a course that will be malleable by enriching interactions with all the people who follow it. In a press release, the human resources director of Socotec, Sebastien botin, explains the benefit of such an approach: “This tool has enabled us to improve the productivity time of our new recruits by 30%, leading to savings of almost 800 working days. Business experts are connected directly with field employees through the platform, which is a huge advantage when deploying training at scale. “
Redemptions in the line of sight
For his part, the entrepreneur justifies the enthusiasm of investors for his company by a conjunction of several structural elements: “A generation of baby boomers will retire in the next three years and their skills with it. The most sought-after profiles now prefer to set up their start-up or work independently. And new tools are coming out every day, requiring a solid update from employees. “
This approach is still in advance and most of the time, 360Learning enters a client’s premises through a service allowing its effectiveness to be tested. It is then the principle of virality which makes it possible to extend it to the whole of the entity. And to touch more, the start-up does not refrain from making acquisitions. An operation would also already be tied up, and would allow the company to increase its turnover by several million dollars.
To manage everything, this edtech player relies on a team of 250 people who will double by the end of 2022. To attract all the people it needs, 360Learning is promoting a generous shareholder policy. On the occasion of this financing, it thus enabled the founders and the first 30 employees still present to sell part of their shares, a secondary operation representing a total of 5 million dollars. For the others, it will be necessary to wait for the next round to capitalize their investment in this new headliner of French Tech.
