Founded in London in 2017, Zen Educate is a self-serve online marketplace that replaces traditional third-party recruitment agencies by matching teachers and schools using data such as proximity, skills, and experience. The platform supports hiring for full-time roles and helps teachers find flexible temporary or part-time work. Zen Educate says it takes a little over half the typical incumbent industry take rate (incumbents are between 35% and 38%), which it argues results in higher pay for teachers and cost savings for schools. The company operates across 11 regions in England and is live in five U.S. states after a Minneapolis soft-launch, reporting it is the second-largest provider in Minnesota and works with nine of the top 200 U.S. school districts. The company has about a 300-person workforce, with more than 15% based in the U.S. Zen Educate plans to expand into additional U.S. and U.K. markets, launch new school-administrator software (credentialing, compliance, and absence management), and grow via acquisitions. Zen Educate operates a self-serve, algorithmic marketplace that matches schools with the best-available teachers by factoring availability, skillset, proximity, role type and past feedback. The platform runs automated checks on teachers during sign-up and lets schools create favorite lists to rebook high-performing substitutes. Zen Educate charges a markup of roughly 15–18% on hours or days booked through the platform and says it has saved the U.K. education sector about £10 million in agency fees. The company cites UK school spending of roughly £2 billion on temporary staff, with £600 million attributable to agency fees as the market opportunity. Founded in London in 2017, Zen Educate soft-launched in the U.S. in March (starting in Minneapolis, where it powers ~7,000 hours of cover per month) and is preparing further U.S. expansion beginning with Houston. Management intends to use new capital to grow U.S. presence, double headcount to 200 within six months, and acquire incumbents in the market. Zen Educate provides a digital staffing platform that allows schools to search for and book available supply teachers. Launched in 2017 and based in London, the platform works with 10% of schools in London and over 4,000 teachers. The company aims to onboard an additional 2,000 schools and 20,000 teachers while growing its team from 20 to 60 by year end. It plans to invest further in its match algorithm to provide intelligent matching for short- and long-term roles. Zen Educate also intends to roll the platform out across new geographies across the UK.

Total raised

$65M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series B

Latest activity

May 2024