Case study
Founded in 2017 by Slava Kremerman and Oren Cohen, Zen Educate is an online marketplace that connects schools to supply teachers and teaching assistants by advertising job opportunities in real-time.
| Region/Nation | London |
|---|---|
| Sector | Education |
| Programme | Debt Funds |
| Partner |
Replacing traditional recruitment agencies, the platform matches schools with high-quality teaching professionals based on availability, proximity and skillset using smart technology. Teachers can use the platform to easily find full time, temporary or part-time roles that fit around their lives, and schools can save money and fill vacancies quickly with little-to-no disruption.
Following its initial success, Zen Educate required further capital to firmly establish its foothold and operations in the UK and expand its presence in the US market.
Support from the Bank
Claret Capital Partners, which specialises in growth debt financing, supported Zen Educate through its Claret European Growth Capital Fund III, to which the British Business Bank committed €40m.
Investing a total of €10m, initially in the form of a €5m loan specifically for acquisition purposes, Zen Educate was able to consolidate and scale its UK operations and used the additional capital to accelerate its growth plans.
Impact of funding: what has Zen Educate gone on to do?
This funding came at a pivotal moment within the company’s growth cycle and provided Slava and Oren with the capital to deliver their growth strategy.
Zen Educate now serves c.2,000 schools across the UK.
It has since acquired Aquinas Education and AK Education, two UK-based staffing firms, strengthening its UK offering, and is expanding in the US – currently operating in ten states across the US – where it hopes to address the ongoing national educator shortage.
Slava Kremerman, CEO and Co-Founder, Zen Educate:
With this funding, we have been able to reinvest in supporting our school partners in creating stable, inspiring classrooms where children can learn and thrive. Schools use Zen Educate to find high-quality educators at significantly lower costs than incumbent competitors across the US and UK.
Daniel Mallon, Principal, Claret Capital Partners
We are proud to support Zen Educate in its quest to improve education and outcomes for students. The company has gone from strength to strength and has now become the largest provider in the UK while also experiencing tremendous success across the US. Slava Kremerman and Oren Cohen are a great example of how venture debt can fuel mission-driven innovation and benefit society.
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