Media Release

29 September 2021: Australian edtech start-up, Academy Xi has boosted its market presence with $14 million of capital to support its expansion in the fast-growing online learning sector.

Co-CEO, Matt Hill said the fresh round of $4.4 million secured in August 2021 comes on top of $9.6 million already raised and will bolster growth through acquisition and strategic partnerships.

“This is an important milestone for the Academy Xi team and signals a new stage of our development as digital transformation and automation are changing the structure of the workforce. Over the past five years we have built a portfolio of courses, attracted sector-leading talent and positioned the business for significant expansion,” Mr Hill said.

“In this recent round of funding we are thrilled to welcome new investors, venture capitalist and philanthropist Mr Robert McLean AM, experienced Chair and Company Director Mr Bill Conn and funds manager Milford Asset Management. They join Alium Capital Management, Giant Leap Fund, Pangaea Impact Investments and Perle Ventures who have participated in previous rounds of capital raising.”

Investment Director Milford Asset Management, John Johnston said they are pleased to be part of Academy Xi’s growth journey because it is turning the traditional learning model and recruitment market on its head.”

“This is a great opportunity to invest in a sector worth more than $700 million that is rapidly growing at 8 per cent each year. Academy Xi’s unique offering, demonstrated experience in execution and strong performance are a great fit for Milford,” Mr Johnston said.

Academy Xi established in 2016, has been delivering critical skills and capabilities, actively closing the digital skills shortage gap in Australia and other markets. New research has revealed a major gap in digital skills across Australia’s workforce, with 87 per cent of jobs now requiring digital literacy skills.

With a shortage of more than 100,000 ICT related workers in Australia, Academy Xi provides job ready candidates faster, better and cheaper than any other institution in the country. Current higher education system only trains just under 7000 IT graduates per year. Over the next year, Academy Xi is focused on rapidly expanding its technology and data programs in critical and emerging skills areas.

COVID-19 and the exponential growth of technology has accelerated the demand for digital talent as organisations look to upskill and reskill their workforce. Globally the edtech sector is booming with $16 billion worth of capital raised in 2020. In Australia there is strong growth with two recent transactions creating the latest edtech unicorns. A Cloud Guru was acquired for a record amount by US based Pluralsight and Go1 raised $200 million bringing its value to more than $1 billion.