The funding will enable the school to “educate 20,000 learners within a few years”, to give students the opportunity to learn skills and establish a “career in tech”.

“We are thrilled to bring Rubio Impact Ventures and Dutch Founders Fund on board, and to have the continued support of our angel investors,” said Joran van Aart, WINC Academy’s CEO.

The investment will also be put towards meeting a “surging demand” for online upskilling and reskilling courses, after an eight-fold scale up of its student base “accelerated by Covid”.

Those who use the courses will be able to study at their own pace, combined with “personal mentoring” designed to work around their personal lives, which will “significantly grow the talent pool”, and give employers more options to attract professionals.

“By bringing together industry experts, mentors, and learners, Winc Academy is building a much-needed international marketplace in education,” said Patrick Kerssemakers from Dutch Founders Fund.

“In just three years this team has built a scalable edtech platform with graduation rates far higher than others,” he added.

Willemijn Verloop of Rubio concurred, saying that the academy wants to “achieve lifelong learning” and employment for all who go there.

“They essentially offer careers, not courses, and enable everyone who has the ambition and grit an opportunity at a future-proof career in tech,” Verloop said.

An early-stage fund that led Winc Academy’s angel round in 2019 prior to the pandemic, Vivid Ventures, has also joined onto the current investment round.

“Impact drive is strongly anchored in [Winc Academy’s] DNA”

Winc is also planning to further expand its leadership team and will be looking for a COO, after van Aart was appointed CEO in May last year.

He joined Marijn Pijnenborg and Carla Snepvangers on the founding team at the same time.

The platform was founded in 2018 in “response to the skills gap and digitisation of work”.

“Impact drive is strongly anchored in [Winc Academy’s] DNA,” Verloop said.

“[Rubio and Dutch Founders] is a strong combination that will help us achieve our purpose of giving everyone the chance at a better future by learning in-demand skills,” van Aart added.