German startup Sharpist is a people development solution focusing one 1:1 digital coaching sessions and continuous micro tasks. It aims to provide personalised learning for every employee worldwide.
Stellar list of investors
The digital coaching provider Sharpist just announced that it has raised $23 million in Series A funding. The financing round was led by Endeit Capital and Capnamic alongside participation from select business angels. These angel investors include the former VP of Workplace at Meta Julien Codorniou, French venture studio Founders Future, and Porsche Ventures, the venture capital unit of Sharpist’s customer Porsche AG, and existing investors Vorwerk Ventures and btov Partners.
This investment has come at a time when Sharpist has witnessed significant growth. It will help fuel the company’s mission to drive the growth of organisations and people via digital coaching and personlised learning journeys.
Funds utilisation
The Berlin-based startup plans to double the size of its strong team of 100 in 2022, thereby cementing its position as a leader in the digital coaching market. With the fresh capital, Sharpist aims to accelerate growth across Europe and product development with a focus on product experience. Also, the company plans to expand to new markets, including the UK and Ireland by opening a branch in London in the coming months.
Hendrik Schriefer, CEO and Co-Founder of Sharpist said: “The fresh capital allows us to further invest in our industry-defining product experience and gradually position Sharpist as the market leader for digital coaching in Europe. We plan to bring our leading coaching and people development experience to other promising regions, starting with the UK and Ireland. We are excited to partner with our new investors Endeit Capital, Capnamic, and Porsche Ventures on our mission to become the leading platform for career and people development – we will substantially benefit from their vast experience in building strong, multi-national leaders.”
Martijn Hamann, Co-Owner and Partner at Endeit Capital said: “By supporting Sharpist, we are further executing our belief in Intelligent Empowerment. Sharpist is a prime example as it connects the next generation workforce with selected and certificated coaches through their data-driven platform. We are excited to support a strong and innovative European tech scale up driving Employee Empowerment, Leadership Development and Organizational Transformation.”
Jörg Binnenbrücker, Managing Partner at Capnamic added: “I firmly believe that the edtech sector is one of the most promising areas for growth. Innovative ways of teaching and coaching remotely, like Sharpist is providing through its digital and highly personalized one-on-one approach, are fundamentally changing how we learn and grow. Sharpist is clearly leading the space and has become the trusted provider of many of DACH’s largest enterprises. We are excited and look forward to supporting Hendrik and Fabian in building on their existing success.”
Patrick Huke, Head of Porsche Ventures Europe and Israel said: “New Work is a global megatrend and is being further accelerated by the digital transformation we are currently going through. The unique solution from Sharpist helps companies worldwide to meet these new requirements and to be able to increase their employer attractiveness by offering each of their employees a tailor-made, high-quality and personal coaching that can be scaled internationally.”
Personalised learning!
Founded by Fabian Niedballa and Hendrik Schriefer in 2018, Sharpist capitalises on the fast-growing corporate learning and development market worth over $300 billion. The digital coaching provider offers companies with personal business coaches from an international network of certified coaches via its mobile and web app. Also, it offers personalised learning content.
Sharpist has grown steadily since its debut evolving into a market leader in digital coaching. Enterprise clients rely on the company to retain and grow their talent. Some of its clientele include STRABAG, Franke, and Otto Group with the recent additions such as Zalando, Metro, and BASF having joined as customers in Q4 2021.
How does Sharpist work?
With tailor-made solutions, the company helps businesses grow and meet their goals. Firstly, Sharpist analyses individual and company needs, detailed goals set at company and individual level, coach matching based on goals assessment and individual profiles to tailor solutions.
Next, the company offers app-based coaching and e-learning with video coaching sessions, microlearning and micro tasks, personalised e-learning modules from MIT and other leading partners. Lastly, Sharpist tracks progress via analytics dashboards including coaching and assessment data, feedback interviews, 360-degree feedback, learning framework analysis, and pre- and post-evaluations.
