Almaral Oy, founded in the spring and focusing mainly on health technology venture capital and business support services, has made a significant investment in education technology. Almaral’s new portfolio company Seppo.io is a world leader in the gamification of education.
Seppo has achieved success with its gamification platform, offered as a SaaS platform, which allows any training or educational content to be turned into an interactive learning game. Seppo is used in around fifty countries worldwide by businesses, educational institutions, and public organizations. The company’s customers include the world’s largest educational publisher Pearson, and Merlin Entertainment, known for operating the Legoland theme parks, for example. Currently, 35% of the company’s turnover is already being generated on the export market.
Almaral’s focus is on investments in early-stage biotechnology and life science startups across Europe. But, surprisingly, its second investment is in education technology. Has its investment strategy changed?
“This investment was no surprise. Almaral is no regular venture capital company. We love to create value for our clients by answering the strategic and operational questions that our portfolio companies often face in their growth stage. Our team has proven and versatile business knowledge and, regardless of their industry, we can help companies with their internationalization, sales strategies and brand management. We met the founders of Seppo and we quickly noticed that we are a perfect match. Successful employee engagement requires investing in onboarding and improving the employee experience. Changes in corporate culture also increase pressure to rethink staff training methods. Seppo’s gamification platform is a proven way to motivate and commit skilled employees,” says Dr Maria Severina, CEO of Almaral.
Almaral’s Partner Juuso Enala has been proposed as a new board member of Seppo at next week’s extraordinary general meeting. Currently, Almaral has over twenty investment targets under active evaluation. The new holistic operating model of the private equity investor has attracted a lot of interest, but instead of quantity, the company wants to focus on quality.
More information:
Dr Maria Severina, CEO Almaral, maria.severina@almaral.eu, +358 40 554 0127
Riku Alkio, CEO Seppo.io, riku.alkio@seppo.io, +358 50 531 8044