培训即服务创业公司Lesson.ly融资110万美元，2014年营收增长850%
提供上岗培训管理和培训工具的创业公司 Lesson.ly 在今天早晨宣布，已获得 110 万美元投资。此轮融资由 Allos Ventures 领投，数位天使投资人参投。Lesson.ly 是首个接受“ExactTarget 三位联合创始人作为投资人”的公司。ExactTarget 是一家与 Lesson.ly 类似的美国中西部公司，于 2013 年被 Salesforce 收购。
Lesson.ly 在 2013 年获得过一小笔种子融资。该公司拒绝透露先前一笔融资的具体金额。不过却表示最近一笔融资获得了超额认购，其最初计划融资 100 万美元，最终却多获得了 10% 的资金。
Lesson.ly 计划利用这笔资金来增加营销开支，扩展产品和扩充团队人数到正常水平。
TechCrunch 上一次报道 Lesson.ly 还是在 2013 年底，当时 Lesson.ly 只有三名员工，每月的营收增速达 245% 。考虑到当时这家公司成立还不久，相对比例没什么意义。现在 Lesson.ly 拥有 10 名员工，预计到年底员工数将达 12 名，并计划在 2015 年让员工数翻番。
Lesson.ly 的创始人兼首席执行官马克思·尤德(Max Yoder)表示，Lesson.ly 今年的营收增长了 850% 。他预计 Lesson.ly 2015 年的营收将增长 300% 。
尤德向 TechCrunch 表示，Stripe 和 Lyft 都是 Lesson.ly 的客户。我问尤德，Lesson.ly 是不是严重依赖于某一个客户，得到的答复是没有一个客户对营收的贡献超过 10% 。
作为一家热切希望向硅谷客户销售的非硅谷公司，Lesson.ly 很出众。我问尤德，中西部创业环境近况如何。他提到了不少退出案，并表示“天使投资要比以往任何时候都强，芝加哥和俄亥俄州风投对中西部创业公司的兴趣在这些年也大幅增加。”我曾经也是芝加哥科技圈的参与者，这话我爱听。
培训并不是最性感的行业，但增长是一家年轻公司能展示的最具吸引力的东西。Lesson.ly 是否能实现其 2015 年的增长预期令人期待，祝他们好运。
Training-As-A-Service Startup Lesson.ly Picks Up $1.1M After Growing Its Revenue 850% In 2014
Lesson.ly, a startup that provides onboarding and training tools, announced this morning that it has raised a $1.1 million round led by Allos Ventures, and participated in by several angels. The firm claims to be the first company to “count all three ExactTarget co-founders as investors.” ExactTarget, a Midwest company like Lesson.ly, was acquired by Salesforce in 2013.
The $1.1 million follows a smaller seed round in 2013. The company declined to detail the amount of its former fundraising. It did note that its most recent capital event was oversubscribed — the company had initially planned to raise a flat $1 million, but accepted 10 percent more cash.
The company intends to use its new capital, it informed TechCrunch, to grow its marketing spend, and build out its product, normal enough stuff.
TechCrunch last discussed Lesson.ly in late 2013, when the company had three employees, and revenue growth in the hundreds of percent per month. Given its youth at that stage, however, the relative percentages weren’t too meaningful — the law of large numbers does work to the inverse, in reverse. Today, Lesson.ly has 10 employees, expects to make it to 12 by the end of the year, and plans to nearly double its staff in 2015.
According to the company’s founder and CEO Max Yoder, Lesson.ly’s revenue has grown 850 percent this year. He expects the company’s top line to grow 300 percent in 2015.
Lesson.ly counts companies like Stripe and Lyft among its customer base, Yoder told TechCrunch. I asked if the company was heavily dependent on any single customer, but was told that no single account constitutes more than 10 percent of its revenue.
As a company, Lesson.ly stands out somewhat for being a staunchly non-Valley play, but one that is more than willing to sell to Valley-centric customers. I asked Yoder how the Midwest startup scene was growing. He cited several exits as important moments, and stated that “angel funding is stronger than ever, and interest from Chicago and Ohio VCs has grown significantly over the years.” I was once a participant in the Chicago technology scene, making that somewhat edifying to hear.
Training is not the sexiest technology, but growth is the most attractive thing a young company can post. It will be interesting to see if Lesson.ly can not only meet its 2015 growth expectations, but best them.
来源：techcrunch
扫一扫 加微信
hrtechchina
