Learn Capital IV (IFC-44996)

Regions
  • World
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Active
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
C
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Dec 17, 2020
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
LEARN CAPITAL VENTURE PARTNERS IV, L.P.
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Finance
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Equity
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 30.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Jun 6, 2024

Disclosed by Bank Jan 26, 2021

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the IFC, the proposed transaction is an investment of up to US $15M in a parallel fund vehicle (“Parallel Fund”) which will invest alongside Learn Capital Venture Partners IV, L.P. (“the Main Fund”). Founded in 2008, Learn Capital LLC (“Learn”) is a venture capital fund manager headquartered in Silicon Valley, focusing exclusively on Education Technology (EdTech) investments.  The IFC has given this project a risk category of FI-3 (financial intermediary).

People Affected By This Project
People Affected By This Project refers to the communities of people likely to be affected positively or negatively by a project.

- Increased availability of capital for technology-driven start-ups engaged in education and skills development in emerging markets: IFC expects that the Parallel Fund will increase investment available to education and skills-focused start-up companies across emerging markets, including geographies with limited access to venture capital.
- Improved access to efficient training, upskilling and employability-related education services for populations across emerging markets: By investing in companies providing scalable, accessible and low-cost learning solutions, IFC expects to support learners in emerging markets to achieve higher levels of education and develop digital and other employment-related skills so as to participate more effectively in the workforce.
- Increased competitiveness of key markets through innovative market-creating solutions: IFC expects the Parallel Fund will support start-up companies that enhance the efficiency of traditional education models and also companies that leverage new technologies to create innovative services and delivery channels currently unavailable to emerging market populations.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

According to the IFC, the proposed transaction is an investment of up to US $20M in the EM Fund, which will co-invest with Fund IV and other Learn Capital funds in qualified investments. Qualified investments are defined as companies which are not engaged in the ownership or operation of K-12 schools; and (a) are domiciled in emerging markets; or (b ) now have, or in the best judgement of Learn Capital based on verifiable business plans, are expected within 5 years to have, substantial operations or usage in or generate substantial revenues from emerging markets. IFC will initially be the sole limited partner in the EM Fund, but both IFC and Learn will seek to mobilize other like-minded investors including DFIs.                                

Financial Intermediary
A financial intermediary is a bank or financial institution that receives funds from a development bank. A financial intermediary then lends these funds to their clients (private actors) in the form of loans, bonds, guarantees and equity shares. Financial intermediaries include insurance, pension and equity funds. The direct financial relationship is between the development bank and the financial intermediary.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

According to the IFC, Learn Capital is managed by Rob Hutter and Greg Mauro, who have 20+ years combined experience in edtech investing. IFC was the anchor investor in Learn Capital Venture Partners III, L.P. (“Fund III”) a $150M fund with a specific emerging markets focus and mandate. With ongoing demand for tech-enabled education and skilling solutions, Learn is raising new global edtech funds, including Learn Capital Venture Partners IV, L.P. (“Fund IV”).


Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

LEARN CAPITAL VENTURE PARTNERS IV, L.P.
Vanessa Rutstein / vanessa@learncapital.com

 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries

If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

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How it works