NRW.BANK grants convertible loan to Masterplan.com

Further education platform from Bochum benefits from trend towards digital learning - NRW.BANK participates in financing round of Bochum-based start-up Masterplan.com with a convertible loan in the single-digit million range. The online platform for professional further education will use the money to promote the expansion of its digital offerings.

Other investors in the financing round are RAG-Stiftung, Gründerfonds Ruhr as well as existing investors.

“The digital training of employees will become increasingly important for many companies going forward,” says Michael Stölting, member of the Managing Board of NRW.BANK. “With our participation, we support this trend and help strengthen technology-oriented companies that keep an eye on digital innovations.”

Masterplan.com is a digital learning platform that enables companies to train their staff via videos, chats and online workshops. The Bochum-based start-up is clearly benefiting from the sustainable digital transformation, the trend towards digital education and the coronavirus pandemic. Over the past months, Masterplan.com has already been able to sign up well-known customers and is growing not only at its Bochum head office but also in Berlin and Vienna.

“The Ruhr area is writing more and more success stories in Germany’s rapidly growing start-up scene,” says Thorsten Reuter, Managing Director of Gründerfonds Ruhr. “We are pleased to support Masterplan.com with capital for the further development of their successful platform and to help build up strong players from the region who have great international potential.”

Masterplan.com intends to use the capital made available by the promotional bank for North Rhine-Westphalia and by other investors primarily for investments in technology and products. The company aims to make its content more interactive and to cover a broader range of topics. The new learning content will primarily focus on soft skills and specific instructions for working from home and remote working. The aim is to convert the loan into an investment in the company at a later stage.

About Masterplan.com

Masterplan.com is a further education platform for lifelong learning. Leading experts from Germany and the Silicon Valley share their knowledge in video lessons. Companies such as the OTTO Group and Siemens use Masterplan.com to train their employees. The platform was established in Bochum in 2017 by Stefan Peukert and Daniel Schütt. Today the company employs 70 people at its locations in Bochum, Berlin and Vienna. www.masterplan.com

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About NRW.BANK

NRW.BANK is the promotional bank of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW). Its mission is to support its owner – the state of North Rhine-Westphalia – in the completion of its structural and economic policy tasks. In its three promotional fields “Economy”, “Housing” and “Infrastructure/Municipalities”, NRW.BANK uses a wide range of promotion tools – from low-interest promotion loans to equity financing to advisory services. It cooperates with all banks and savings banks based in NRW on a competition-neutral basis. NRW.BANK takes into account the existing offers by the Federal Government, the North Rhine-Westphalian government and the European Union in the arrangement of its promotion.