VC firm Educapital recently announced that it has reached the first close of its second fund. The team has already secured $105 million (€100 million) and now wants to reach $160 million (€150 million) to invest in edtech startups as well as companies working on the future of work.
I caught up with Marie-Christine Levet, one of the firm’s two co-founders with Litzie Maarek, so that she could tell me about Educapital’s investment thesis and goals with this second fund.
“We created the firm four years ago. We were the first European edtech fund. In four years, we invested in 20 companies, mostly in Europe. We have a wide investment spectrum from early childhood to vocational training,” Marie-Christine Levet told me.
Some companies in the portfolio of the firm’s first fund include 360Learning, Labster, Preply, LiveMentor, Simundia and PowerZ.
So far, Educapital has generated two exits (Lalilo and AppScho), and a lot of the portfolio companies have raised follow-on investments. Around 40% of Educapital’s portfolio companies have been founded or co-founded by a woman.
“The COVID crisis has been a catalyst — history has accelerated. We’ve saved five to 10 years,” Levet said.
With Educapital’s second fund, the team wanted to raise €100 million. But it’s been quite easy as they reached that goal with the first closing of the fund. Educapital now wants to reach the fund cap at €150 million.
“We think there has been a complete change. It’s harder than ever to draw a line between work, school and professional training,” Levet said.
Educapital wants to invest in another 20 companies. A typical Educapital round is anything between €3 million and €10 million, most likely at the Series A stage. Three companies have raised from Educapital’s second fund already — Chance, Fourth Rev and Invivox.
When it comes to limited partners, many of Educapital’s existing backers decided to invest in the second fund. These investors include Hachette Livre, Bayard, Education for the Many, etc. New investors include Éditions Francis Lefebvre, the Jacobs Foundation, UMR, BNP Paribas Innovation, Arkea, Matmut and others.
In my discussion, Marie-Christine Levet also insisted that Educapital isn’t a strictly edtech fund — despite the name. The firm now also wants to invest in “future of work” startups.