Platzi recently closed a $62 million Series B round headed by Prosus with participation from Foundation Capital, Y Combinator, 500 Startups, FJ Labs, FundersClub, and others.
Platzi plans to use the new funds to invest in new material and expand its enterprise service. Most significantly, it intends to extend its educational offerings in order to assist more young people, especially high school students, in securing jobs in Latin America’s most notable tech businesses.
Web development, advertising, and marketing are the most popular classes on Platzi right now. The company has established a soft skills school, and while it is not required, more than 60% of students who take a technical course will combine it with training on how to communicate effectively or work in a large group.
As of now, about 60% of Platzi’s students spend $300 per year to access the coursework, which is the same amount of money (or less) that 50% of students make per month per graduation. While salaries will likely increase over time, co-founders Freddy Vega and Christian Van Der Henst want this metric to change.
Vega said to TechCrunch, “They (students) had to sacrifice one month of salary to be able to afford Platzi. I know we can make it cheaper in the next two years.”
What will Platzi do with $62 million? According to the learning platform, they will be more accessible to all, they will create a more powerful English Academy to make the region bilingual, and the platform will launch in Brazil.
