Visibly, a startup built for the blue- and green-collar industries, has raised £6m led by Creandum, the European backer of Spotify and Klarna, with participation from existing investors Seedcamp, Brighteye Ventures, Triple Point and other prominent business angels.
The UK infrastructure sector is centuries old and heavily regulated, particularly when it comes to training. Regulations are important for an industry with such a high physical risk - but historically they’ve been interpreted by legacy training providers in a way that keeps prices high, creates barriers to entry and stops workers getting the training they need to do their jobs safely.
In practice, certification programmes involve archaic classroom-based training that stays the same for years - regardless of any developments in technology, or standards - and has little relevance to the real world. The worst case is someone getting injured, or a community being harmed - but the sector has such complex hierarchies and regulations that nobody has attempted to change it.
Visibly was founded to do just that. Its founder, Kane St Quintin, realised that the problem comes from how we interpret these regulations. By modernising the approach, blue- and green-collar workers can get the education they deserve and the built environment can get the expertise it needs.
Visibly’s user-first technology gives workers an education that’s on-demand, adapts to their individual capabilities, and translates to the world around them - as well as access to advantages office workers take for granted when undergoing training, like peer-to-peer feedback and expert-led coaching.
Clients include Hitachi, Kier and SRL. SRL’s Service Director Alison Spooner comments “Giving our users ongoing access to expert-led training and testing their competence through Visibly makes sure they're doing their jobs safely and effectively. Visibly is a vital tool for us as we look to expand our user base.”
Visibly was founded in 2021 by Kane St Quintin, who previously built construction company Pickr. Since then, the team has grown to include Chief Learning Officer Kirsten Campbell-Howes (ex-Busuu, Chegg). The latest round of funding will be used to build the Visibly team. Alongside hiring, Visibly will accelerate product development and the breadth of regulated certifications it offers to keep pace with its growing customer base.
