Prosus Ventures led a USD60m Series B for Colombian edtech Platzi, with follow-on from Foundation Capital, Y Combinator, 500 Global, FJ Labs, FundersClub, and Hans Tung (GGV) and Darian Shirazi (Gradient). Foundation Capital invested USD6m in June 2019. 

(Press Release) – Platzi, a leading professional education platform in Latin America, has raised
$60 million in Series B funding led by Prosus, one of the largest technology investors in the world.
Existing investor Foundation Capital co-invested in this round along with YCombinator, 500
Startups, FJ Labs, FundersClub, Hans Tung from GGV and Darian Shirazi from Gradient. Platzi
will use the fresh funds to expand its educational offering in Portuguese, English and Spanish,
ramp up its offering for businesses and continue building strategic partnerships with tech giants
and governments.

Founded by Freddy Vega and Christian Van Der Henst, Platzi aims to close the talent gap of
technology professionals in Latin America as an effective education platform for lifelong learners,
regardless of their background or prior skills. As a pioneer in edtech in Latin America, thousands
of companies use Platzi’s platform every day to upskill their workforce, along with more than 2.5
million individual students starting their careers in technology within the Platzi community.

The Platzi community is what sets it apart from other education platforms. The learning
experience of the company is designed to make students actively engage and participate with
teachers and peers, at scale. As a result, students acquire professional skills to build their own
companies or land their dream jobs. Platzi students have built more than 40 startups that have
raised over $1 million with 20 companies having received funding from Y Combinator.

“Our methodology was created to help students thrive by learning tech skills, soft skills, language
training and also enable them to build a network of peers so they can get a job as soon as possible
or create their own companies. In addition, we give learners tools they need, and community
elements. In a region of massive inequality and lack of opportunities like Latin America, this is
especially important. Every day we see students going from the minimum wage of $300 dollars a
month to 10X after studying at Platzi for 12 months,” explained Freddy Vega, Platzi CEO.

The Prosus investment is the first for the company in an edtech platform based in Latin America.
Since 2016, in vocational training alone, Prosus has built a significant portfolio, with investments
in Stack Overflow, Skillsoft, Udemy, GoodHabitz, and Codecademy.

“There is a large deficit of tech-focused graduates in Latin America, despite a massive need for
corporates to increase their overall technical staff significantly over the next decade. Traditional
educational institutions are not equipped to meet the evolving needs of technology students and
employers, and Platzi is filling an important gap in the market,” commented Denis Pedreira, Latin
America Investments, Prosus. “With most quality online coding courses available only in English,
Platzi is disrupting the sector for future LatAm learners offering coding and technical skills courses
in Spanish and Portuguese. Already a leader in Spanish-speaking countries, the team’s execution
has enabled an impressive footprint across the region and the company is positioned well for
future expansion.”

Platzi’s track record has been impressive. The company has more than doubled its student base
year over year, every year since its founding in 2014. “Our students become lifetime learners and
our platform allows students to connect to peers outside their personal networks, change careers,
build their startups and find jobs.” Vega continued.

Educational content on Platzi is constantly refreshed with new courses added or updated each
month. The Platzi platform consists of thousands of courses including Web development,
programming, digital marketing, English, cryptocurrencies, soft skills and more. Large Tech
companies choose Platzi to teach Spanish speakers about their latest updates.

Platzi currently has offices in Mexico City, Bogota and San Francisco with over 200 employees.
The company plans to use the new funding to hire across product development, content
development and sales.

About Platzi
Platzi is the largest tech school in the Spanish-speaking world and one of the most important
online communities specializing in technology in Latin America. Platzi helps students from all over
the world acquire new, in-demand skills and stay up-to-date with the tech industry. The company
has served over 2.5 million students from across more than 140 nations to date. In 2014, Platzi
was the first company from Latin America to be admitted to Y Combinator.

About Prosus
Prosus is a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the
world. Operating and investing globally in markets with long-term growth potential, Prosus builds
leading consumer internet companies that empower people and enrich communities. The group
is focused on building meaningful businesses in the online classifieds, food delivery, payments
and fintech, and education technology sectors.
Through the Prosus Ventures team, the group invests in new technology growth opportunities
within logistics, fintech, health, blockchain, social and ecommerce platforms, agriculture and
more. The team actively backs exceptional entrepreneurs who are using technology to improve
people’s everyday lives.
Each month, more than 2 billion customers across the globe use the products and services
of companies that Prosus has invested in, acquired or built. To find out more, please visit
www.prosus.com.