YFM Equity Partners backs the growth of elearning specialist Elucidat with £3.5m investment

Funds advised by YFM Equity Partners (“YFM”), the specialist private equity fund manager have backed an investment into Elucidat Limited, an elearning software business.

The £3.5million investment from YFM’s advised funds will be used to accelerate product development so that Elucidat’s customers can produce learning content faster and at a higher quality. The funds will also be used to invest in their team and drive growth in North America, which currently accounts for 35% of Elucidat’s revenue.

Elucidat is a learning technology SaaS business that offers smarter, faster ways for global organisations to produce, distribute and measure elearning that delivers transformative impact. Based in Brighton, Elucidat was founded in 2013 by Ian Budden, Simon Greany and Steve Penfold (CEO). Growing rapidly since inception, the company has attracted big brand customers and world class training providers such as Tesco, The National Trust and the Open University. So far, over 10 million people around the world have benefited from learning opportunities created with Elucidat.

YFM’s investment comes from its two advised VCTs, British Smaller Companies VCT plc and British Smaller Companies VCT2 plc.

Nigel Owens, Investment Director who led the Investment for YFM said: “The Elucidat team has already gained well known global brands as customers and the business is growing strongly.  We’re absolutely delighted to be working with the team at Elucidat to support the development of future products and further expansion into global markets.”

Paul Cannings, Partner YFM, added: “Elucidat is a great example of an organisation which not only has strong growth potential, but also seeks to do business in a responsible way. We are delighted to be able to support them in the acceleration of their growth plans.”

Steve Penfold, CEO of Elucidat, said: “This investment marks an exciting milestone for the Elucidat team and our customers. We’re now able to move even faster on our mission to help our customers around the world produce, distribute and measure transformational elearning with real impact. For our team and the Brighton economy it means new job opportunities and even more focus on creating an amazing place to work, that centres around our ‘learn, care, share’ values.

“We selected YFM as our investment partner based their proven track record of working with businesses to accelerate global growth, while ensuring their portfolio companies consider their impact on society and the environment. We’re excited to be working together with YFM on the next phase of our growth.”

YFM’s legal advice was provided by Karen Procter of Shoosmiths plc, Financial Due Diligence carried out by Wilkins Kennedy, and organisational due diligence by Anna Cornwallis from Stratton HR. Jon Gill at TLT provided legal advice for the company.