Learning That Means Business: HowNow Extends Series A with $9.5M to Deliver Skills-First Learning

We’ve all had those moments when learning changed everything.

The right skill landed us a new job. The right knowledge helped us solve a tough problem. The right opportunity unlocked our potential.

But somewhere along the way, workplace learning lost its way.

Instead of helping people grow, it became about tracking hours. Instead of solving real problems, it became about ticking boxes. Content was pushed, but capabilities weren’t built. Systems were built to count course completions, not skills gained. Spreadsheets stored skills that never translated into real development.

And yet, the world of work has never moved faster. The biggest challenges - whether in business, or society - won’t be solved by chance. They’ll be solved by people with the right skills, at the right time, tackling the right problems.

That’s why we started HowNow: to make meaningful learning a part of everyday work. 

When learning is relevant, timely, and connected to business needs, it fuels careers, drives company growth, and makes the world better. We’re proud to be the platform for learning and upskilling for some of the most incredible brands, making us one of the fastest-growing learning companies in the world.

And now, we’re taking our mission even further.

I’m incredibly excited to share that we’ve raised $9.5M in Series A funding, led by Mercia Ventures, the world’s largest learning company Pearson, and Fuel Ventures. This investment will help us accelerate our vision, giving L&D the tools to prove their impact, drive real skills development, and connect learning to business success.
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AI that transforms L&D from Admin to Strategic Partner

L&D teams have always been asked to do more with less - to roll out training, track engagement, and prove ROI while being buried in admin. Too often, they’re seen as content providers rather than strategic drivers of business success. 

That needs to change.

We believe in a future where L&D is at the table, driving transformation. Where AI doesn’t replace L&D professionals, it empowers them.

We launched HowNow AI to take the guesswork out of learning. Our AI agents don’t just automate processes, they orchestrate real impact. They map employees to the skills they actually need, based on their roles and responsibilities, not generic training paths. They organise entire learning ecosystems by skill proficiency, ensuring people always know what’s next. They create personalised learning pathways using best-in-class learning design, so learning isn’t just completed - it’s applied.

And we’re just getting started.

We’re introducing AI agents that assess skill proficiency based on real performance, moving beyond self-assessments to data-backed skill tracking. AI-powered insights that deliver self-service analytics, removing the need for complex manual reporting. We’re also launching an AI-powered L&D assistant, a game-changer for L&D teams. This will help them scale their impact without scaling their workload, so they can focus on building a workforce ready to get work done.

But why does this matter beyond the workplace? Because the need for upskilling isn’t just a company challenge - it’s a global one.
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Our Commitment: Upskilling 10 Million People by 2030

The World Economic Forum has set an ambitious goal: to upskill one billion people by 2030. 

That’s a billion people who need better opportunities, future-proofed careers, and the skills to take on whatever comes next.

It’s a massive challenge, but big change starts with small ripples.

At HowNow, we’re setting our sights on 10 million people - 1% of that goal, but a meaningful and necessary step. Because when one person builds a new skill, they don’t just change their own future, they lift up their team, strengthen their company, and shape their entire industry.

And that ripple of change spreads further than any of us can imagine. But we’re not doing this alone.
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Thank You to The People Who Made This Possible

This milestone isn’t just about raising funding, it’s about the people who made it possible.

Thank you to our team - while technology powers our platform, our people power our mission.

What makes HowNow special isn’t just our products or our approach, it’s our team. They’re the reason our customers don’t just love our product, they love working with us. Thank you to all the HowNowers for your brilliance, passion, and relentless drive to build something that truly matters.

To our partners - who have helped us build, integrate, and expand HowNow’s impact, your collaboration means everything.

To our investors - thank you for believing in our mission and backing our vision.

And to our customers - especially the OGs who took a leap before anyone else did, challenged us, and helped shape HowNow into what it is today, thank you for leading the way as L&D heroes.

You’re the reason we’re here. You’re the reason this mission matters. And you’re the reason we’re more excited than ever about the future of learning.

Because when learning matters, people grow.

When people grow, businesses succeed.

And when businesses succeed, the world changes.

This is just the beginning.