Mustard Seed Maze invests in education startup

The Portuguese social impact fund Mustard Seed Maze (MSM) has joined a €3 million investment round in the French startup Iconoclass.

The Portuguese investors were sold on the Paris-based startup’s business model which provides business development courses (sales) but only charges the monthly payments after the students have secured their first work contracts.
Capital investors also included Luxembourg venture capital company Brighteye Ventures and thee French business angels Cédric Sellin, Josef Bovet (CEO of SumUp) and Bruno Sola, CEO of Bizness.
In the case of MSM – a joint venture between the fund Mustard Seed and the impact investment company Maze – Iconoclass is the 19th European startup in which it has invested, having provided around €10 million in the startups of entrepreneurs of seven nationalities.
“The post-pandemic period will increase the need for professionals to re-qualify and enrol on new courses to adapt them to the digital acceleration of the economy.
Iconoclass makes retraining and up-skilling accessible for those who want to learn about sales and business development — a package of skills which is and will always be in high demand,” says the managing partner of MSM António Miguel in an interview with Startup magazine.
“The company trains individuals for sales with work experience and practical content . Its approach will create opportunities for the foreseeable future, for jobs that are more resilient in the longer term.”
MSM’s main investors are the European Investment Fund (EIF) and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Up to 97% of the students found employment one month on average after competing the sales course.