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HT2 Labs receives Series A investment from City & Guilds Group as part of New Venture Fund
[April 06, 2017]

HT2 Labs receives Series A investment from City & Guilds Group as part of New Venture Fund


HT2 Labs, the R&D Company for workplace digital learning, is the latest company to receive investment from the City & Guilds Group's New Venture Fund. The Fund was set up to support technology-driven companies with the potential to make a significant impact in global skills and workforce development.

HT2 Labs' products include Learning Locker, the Open Source (News - Alert) Learning Record Store, and Curatr, the Social Learning Platform. Using big data and large-scale text analytics, these systems create powerful online learning environments that allow organizations to measure the extent of behavior change achieved during learning programs.

As a leader in its field, Learning Locker was recognized as the leading Open Source innovation at the 2016 MongoDB Innovation Awards. Curatr is used by HR specialists to create onboarding and leadership programs through a social learning environment. It has been used by organizations such as Xerox, AstraZeneca and InterContinental Hotel Group.

The Series A round has been led by City & Guilds Group's New Venture Fund who will invest an undisclosed cash amount immediately, with a commitment to further growth funding in the near future, for a minority equity stake. HT2 Labs will use the funding to bring intelligent, informal learning to mainstream corporate use through a new product, Red Panda, and to expand operations in the USA and UK.

Ben Betts, CEO of HT2 Labs, says that job creation will be a major feature of the investment plan: 'The success and growth of our products has attracted a great deal of investor attention, but it has been with the team at the New Venture Fund that we've seen the greatest synergies. We stand to inherit a range of wonderful secondary benefits from working with the City & Guilds Group. We will expand our UK headquarters in Oxford, from 15 to more than 30 people over the next 18 months, whilst also doubling down on our new US office in Boston, which has been a great success for us since opening in January.'

John Yates, New Ventures Director, City & Guilds Group added: 'City & Guilds Group colleagues have been working with HT2 Labs for some time. We share a common real-life research agenda to create solutions that businesses need to improve the performance of their staff and teams. We're delighted to be able to formalise our collaboration.'

Notes to Editors

About HT2 Labs

  • HT2 Labs is the Ramp;D Company for workplace digital learning. Founded by father and son team Alan and Ben Betts, HT2 Labs' invests its time and resources developing technologies that help businesses design, develop and deliver better learning experiences for people who want to change their lives through learning. Our products include:
    • Curatr, an award-winning social learning platform that gives HR teams the tools to design, deliver and facilitate Social Learning programmes, making the best of the content and systems they already own. Recognised as the leader in Social Learning Innovation by the 2016 Learning & Performance Institute Awards.
    • Learning Locker, the world's most installed Learning Record Store (LRS); an Open Source database and analytics tool designed specifically for the education and learning sector. Learning Locker is the massive database behind the UK's National Learning Record Warehouse for Universities and Colleges. Businesses use Learning Locker to store, sort and share their learning data on a massive scale.
    • Red Panda is our latest innovation for intelligent, informal learning. Red Panda helps learners to set and meet their learning goals, recommending content and automatically presenting back progress as they learn.
  • Find out more at ht2labs.com.



Press Resources

  • Founder's Biography and Picture [link]
  • HT2 Labs logos [link]
  • HT2 Labs product screenshots [link]

About the City & Guilds Group


  • The City & Guilds Group's purpose is to help people, organisations and economies develop their skills for growth.
  • Backed by a Royal Charter, the City & Guilds Group has more than 135 years' experience in making sure that people are prepared to contribute to successful businesses and thriving economies.
  • The City & Guilds Group partners with more than 200 companies to develop the skilled workforces that they need, and invests in learning technologies to help people learn whenever and wherever they can.
  • The City & Guilds Group is made up of City & Guilds, ILM, Kineo, The Oxford Group, Digitalme and e3Learning:
  • City & Guilds develops programmes of vocational learning, learning technology, certification and assessment, to support colleges, training providers and governments.
  • ILM helps individuals, education providers and businesses improve the standards of leadership and management through qualifications and accredited training. ILM awards qualifications to over 95,000 managers across the world every year.
  • Kineo is a global workplace learning company. It offers a fresh approach to elearning management systems and managed learning services.
  • The Oxford Group provides bespoke management training, leadership development and executive coaching to the world's leading companies.
  • Digitalme designs credentials, using open badges, to recognise individuals' skills and talent. It works with employers, training providers and over 2,000 schools across the UK.
  • e3Learning specialises in online workforce management and elearning.
  • Combined, the City & Guilds Group operates in over 100 countries, through 10,000 training centres, delivering qualifications in 26 different industries.
  • For more information about the City & Guilds Group visit: www.cityandguildsgroup.com

About the New Venture Fund

The New Venture Fund provides funding for post-revenue businesses and entrepreneurs in the education and training sector in return for equity stake in the companies.

Recipients also benefit from City & Guilds Group expertise and resources, helping to develop their ideas and propel the growth of their businesses.


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