Citizen, BPI, Alven back €6m OpenClassrooms funding

BPI France invested via its fund Fonds Ambition Numérique and as part of its Programme d'Investissements d'Avenir. Also participating in the funding round was French entrepreneur Xavier Niel, CSO and founder of Iliad, better known under its trade name Free. 

Existing investor Alven returned with fresh backing, having previously provided two funding rounds to OpenClassrooms in 2012 and 2014.

The latest round of funding brings the total amount raised by the company to €8.2m.

Currently counting 2.5 million users, the platform is aiming to raise the number to 20 million by 2020. The platform currently makes about 40% of its revenues outside France and will continue its international development with English and Spanish-language courses.

Previous funding
In March 2012, Alven made a first investment of €1.2m in OpenClassrooms, acquiring a minority stake in the group.

In February 2014, Alven injected a further €1m into OpenClassrooms in a second funding round. The fresh funding enabled the group to develop its platform and to roll out its premium offering for its members.

Company
Founded in 2013 by Pierre Nubuc and Mathieu Nebra and headquartered in Paris, OpenClassrooms offers online educational courses accessible to the public, with the aim of making education accessible for all. The group develops an online web platform known as Site du Zéro and the collection Livre du Zéro.

The platform has existing partnerships with some of France's largest higher education institutions, such as École Polytechnique or Sciences Po, as well as with Microsoft, Google and Pôle Emploi – France's jobseekers' centre.

People
Alven Capital – Jérémy Uzan (partner).
Citizen Capital – Pierre-Olivier Barennes (CEO).
BPI France – Véronique Jacq (director digital investments)

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• Topics
• France
• Expansion
• Technology
• France
• BPI France
• Alven Capital