Izzui Investment by Brazilian PE fund
Rio de Janeiro (BR)/Miami, FL (USA) - November 2013 - Social learning app developer Izzui has announced its first funding round of three million Brazilian riyals (ca. one million euros) from Confrapar, a Brazil-based growth-capital firm. Izzui recently launched an open eLearning marketplace app on Facebook for companies and individuals. The funds will be allocated in product development, marketing, and strengthening the team. Izzui is a spinoff of Affero Lab, a leading corporate education-solution provider based in Brazil. Izzui offers a first-of-its-kind learning app ("Izzui") to create, publish, share, and sell eLearning content on Facebook. Izzui allows corporate and individual users to create public and private learning channels to better engage friends, fans, and followers and establish a learning identity and presence on Facebook. Izzui currently has about 200,000 users and more than 500 published courses.
In the B2B space, the company has developed a collaborative, cloud-based content- development platform for online courses and training called QuickLessons. Izzui's corporate customers include Brazilian companies Transpetro (a logistic firm from Petrobras), Contax, Atento, Sky, as well as clients in the Americas, Europe, and Africa.
According to Confrapar CEO Carlos Eduardo Guillaume, Izzui has a unique, innovative, and scalable business model. "From the moment we first met with the company and their founders, we felt confident about this investment opportunity. The Izzui platform offers high growth potential for both B2B (corporate) and B2C (end user) scenarios," he said.
Izzui is the eleventh investment made by Confrapar and the fourth by its NascenTI fund. The fund started its operation in January 2011 and plans to invest in four more companies over the next two years.
With the investment, Izzui will release a new version of its platform, providing a new way for brands to create and manage online social-learning channels and games by the beginning of next year. To accomplish this goal, the company has recently appointed a new CTO and a new COO and is actively developing a presence in the United States, as well as searching for new talent.
Izzui CEO Alfredo Leone said, "Confrapar brings the smart money we need to achieve our growth targets. We chose a partner that brings hands-on experience in technology, management, and governance. Our goal is to bridge digital learning and social-media experiences to enhance the way brands and people connect on social networks. Any brand - from corporations to nonprofits to individuals -- should strive to be a social learning channel."
