12 July 2019
Lifeed is focusing on growth, expanding outside of Italy! We’re transforming life transitions into soft skills, to benefit both businesses and individuals across Europe.
We’ve recently secured £1.3 million in funding for international growth. To fuel our expansion, Valeria Leonardi will be working as International lead, driving growth across the continent. What’s more, we’ve also adapted our programs into English to offer new materials to international markets.
13% of Italian businesses are led by women, with a similar estimated number in the UK. Italian entrepreneur Riccarda Zezza founded Lifeed back in 2015. After spending 15 years working as a manager in large corporations, she had two children. During her periods of maternity leave, she realised that her personal life had helped her to develop the same soft skills that her companies were trying to teach managers in the classroom. It was at that point that she decided to launch Lifeed, harnessing the power of learning in life experiences.
The company team also includes Milena Prisco, Legal Counsel, Fausta Pavesio, Elena Casolar from Opes-LCEF Foundation and Melody Lang, founder of MPA Education. The VC round was lead by Impact Ventures from Hungary.
10 million Europeans become parents every year. What’s more, there are around 7 million UK carers, a number that’s set to increase by 60% by 2030. At the same time, businesses spend billions training people’s soft skills in the classroom. Lifeed trains soft skills such as empathy, creativity, communication, time management and leadership, boosting effectiveness by up to 35%.
Lifeed is based on scientific research and the proprietary Life Based Learning method. Over 50 firms have used the platform to date, including Accenture, Danone, Boston Consulting Group, Amgen and UniCredit. We also have 6,000 active learners, based in 23 countries and 218 cities around the world.
Lifeed recognises that all life transitions can train our skills – from parenthood to caregiving. It’s why we’ve decided to add a new caregiving path to our platform. Riccarda Zezza commented:
“This raise is an important milestone on our journey, one that has been particularly intense and strenuous. The entire Lifeed team took part in the process and grew from the experience. This also signals the beginning of scaling and growing internationally. Our innovation is sought after all over the world: from Germany to Japan to South East Asia. This is the reason why our next growth phase, besides consolidating our position in Italy, will be outward-looking. We know that Life Based Learning combines wellbeing and personal development, and we want as many companies and individuals as possible to have access to the benefits that this brings.
Melody Lang, Founder, MPC Education commented: I am extremely proud to be backing such an impressive founder with a strong vision I totally adhere to. I am thrilled to be part of this new chapter for Lifeed. Many more parents need this solution, globally!
Italian telecommunications company Linkem has been honing their employees’ skills with Lifeed, in response to market changes. They’ve focused on skills such as self-awareness, empathy and listening, mental elasticity and complex problem solving, which have proved vital in coping well with this change.
