Moodle Welcomes $6m European Investment to Fuel Growth and Innovation

September 26, 2017

Today, Moodle Pty Ltd – the Australian company at the heart of the Moodle learning platform project – announced an angel investment from Education For The Many – a subsidiary of the French-based Leclercq family office involved in well-known global companies such as Decathlon.

The new investment will allow Moodle to accelerate established growth plans for its popular, Free and Open Source software and a number of associated initiatives – all aimed at providing powerful, truly open, user-friendly tools that empower educators in every sector and every country.

The Moodle learning platform is used by more educators and students around the world than any other LMS.

Education For The Many will gain a minority stake in Moodle Pty Ltd as well as a board seat, and will use their financial and business experience to support Moodle’s plans for growth.

Martin Dougiamas, Founder and CEO of Moodle Pty Ltd, said: “We have searched for a long time to find an investor who could truly understand and care about our mission, vision and values, and not just look at our organisation in monetary terms.”

“I’m incredibly happy that we’re beginning this journey together to boost the Moodle project to a much higher level of effectiveness and sustainability.”

“In addition to our primary product – the Moodle software itself – we have a number of existing and new supporting products that we’re excited to be building – they will work together to provide a consistent and next-generation open platform to empower educators in the coming years.”

“This is amazing news for the entire Moodle community, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with everyone to help us build on the foundation we have already laid together since 2001” said Martin.

Julien Leclercq, President of the Leclercq family structure (and also CEO of Genairgy, an investment company in sports leisure) explained: “The world will experience major technological upheavals in the coming decades.”

“To allow everyone to adapt to these changes, education of the largest number of people will be the number one solution to living better together.”

“Our family of responsible investors decided a few months ago to help entrepreneurs who are passionate about education, as we are passionate for 40 years about making sport accessible for the many.”

“Martin Dougiamas is one of the world’s most talented entrepreneurs in the education field. We chose to participate in the Moodle adventure to allow Martin to accelerate the expansion of Moodle in the world.”

“We are thrilled to now be active in the Moodle community, a community with a purpose!” said Julien.

This investment news will be formally announced with further details at the keynote address at MoodleMoot Australia 2017 conference in Sydney, Wednesday 27 September, 9.15am AEST.

ENDS

For interview opportunities with Dr Martin Dougiamas and further media queries please contact:

Petra Vanessie
Head of Communications
petra@moodle.com
+61 439 035 150

About Moodle
Moodle, the world’s open source learning platform, allows educators to create a private space online filled with tools for collaborative learning for K-12, higher education and workplaces . First released in 2001 by Martin Dougiamas, Moodle is now used in every country in the world. Moodle is a key part of operations for leading education institutions such as Open University (UK), Ulm University (Germany), Monash and Columbia (USA), Shanghai International University (China), Mumbai University (India), as well as big organisations such as the United Nations, World Vision International and the US Defence force.

Moodle’s open source project and development is supported by its global community of users and network of certified Moodle Partners, who offer a range of tailored Moodle services and support.

To join Moodle’s mission to empower educators to improve our world and for more information, visit https://moodle.com.


About Education For The Many

EFTM is an investment company owned by the LECLERCQ family, founder and main shareholder of the DECATHLON group.

Its mission is to invest on a long-term basis alongside entrepreneurs who wish to change the world through education that is adapted to everyone and accessible to as many people as possible.
http://www.educationforthemany.com/