Talstack, a subscription-based talent management platform enabling companies to identify learning gaps or growth areas and upskill their employees with tools and courses from Africa’s best operators, has secured $850,000 in a pre-seed round led by Ventures Platform. The funding round also saw participation from TLcom, Voltron Capital, Golden Palm Investments, and a syndicate constituting experienced operators and angel investors.
Founded by Seni Sulyman and Kayode Oyewole, Talstack curates content that addresses ambitious companies’ learning and growth needs, delivered in partnership with top professionals and entrepreneurs with practical experience operating across Africa. Its courses are taught by professionals and operators with operating experience in Africa, working for prominent startups and multinationals such as Andela, MAX, Paystack, and Google. Each course has several modules in video format (five minutes or less). While Talstack pays these instructors a flat fee per course, it might explore sharing its revenue as it engages a broader set of instructors upon launch.
Commenting on the fundraising, Founding Partner of Ventures Platform, Kola Aina, said:
The decision to invest in Talstack was driven by its timely and innovative solution to helping Africa’s businesses level up to compete globally. With half of all employees globally needing to upskill or reskill by 2025, Talstack’s comprehensive learning platform is well-positioned to address this critical challenge.
Kola added:
We believe in Talstack’s mission and the strong leadership of its founders. Kayode Oyewole and Seni Sulyman are top performers we know well as long-standing members of the Ventures Platform family. We have full faith in their ability to drive Talstack’s success and are honoured to stand beside them in this journey as we enable Africa’s businesses to compete globally.
The startup enables employees to access tools and a journey map for self-assessment, an active community of other learners, and opportunities to interact with African operators through live Q&As. It is currently running a closed pilot with eight paying customers (businesses), with at least three employees in each company taking the platform’s “self-paced courses and engaging in the learner community.” Currently, employees in its pilot have access to five courses on soft skills.
Eloho Omame, Partner, TLcom Capital, commented:
As a complement to our core strategy of Seed and Series A investments in Africa, TLcom invests selectively in pre-seed companies led by founders of the highest calibre, who combine deep market knowledge with proven operating track records. We’re proud to welcome Talstack as one such investment and the first out of our TIDE Africa Fund II. In Seni and Kayode, we’re excited about a co-founder duo that combines several attractive attributes, including great founder-market fit and highly complementary experience as leaders at Andela and Ventures Platform. Talstack is building a differentiated talent development proposition, and we look forward to supporting the company’s journey.
