Springest

What Springest does

Springest is a European learning comparison marketplace founded in 2008 in Amsterdam by Ruben Timmerman (originally operating as Eduhub, rebranded in 2011) and acquired by Studytube in February 2022. The company operates dedicated consumer learning portals (springest.nl, springest.de, springest.co.uk, nl.springest.be, fr.springest.be, springest.net) where individuals can search, compare, review, and request brochures for 38,000+ professional training programmes from 600+ education providers across the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.

The platform combines a self-serve consumer marketplace with Springest Go, a subscription enterprise portal for HR and L&D teams at organisations with over 1,000 employees (named customers include Aegon, Alliander, Getronics, and Vattenfall) that maps training catalogues, processes enrolments, and provides real-time learning insights. Underlying technology includes an API for media partners, embeddable review widgets, an Eduhub Admin dashboard for education providers, WordPress/Drupal/Magento integrations, and Springest Discover, a LinkedIn-profile-based course recommendation feature. Infrastructure is hosted on AWS within the EU, with ISO 27001 certification and GDPR compliance. Additional sub-brands include findyourMBA.com (acquired June 2013, covering 1,500+ MBA programmes).

Revenue is generated through three primary streams: (1) marketplace commissions from providers receiving leads and brochure requests (with review-rich courses converting 3.8x to 12x better than un-reviewed courses, demonstrating a content-led flywheel); (2) subscription-based enterprise contracts for Springest Go; and (3) affiliate and referral revenue via Zanox and media partner API integrations. Distribution spans owned country-specific portals, a network of media partner sites, affiliate channels, and a charity-linked review programme (€1 per review donated to Edukans Foundation). Springest was profitable through its independent operating history and has received seed funding from Dutch entrepreneurs (Marque Joosten, Patrick Kerssemakers, Floris Rost van Tonningen) and Rabobank in 2011, corporate venture capital from SanomaVentures in 2013, and additional investment from FD Mediagroep in 2017.

Name

Springest

Legal name

Springest

Website

https://springest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Springest is a European learning comparison marketplace operating in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Sweden, connecting individual learners and enterprise HR teams (Aegon, Alliander, Getronics, Vattenfall) with 600+ education providers across 38,000+ training programmes via consumer portals and the Springest Go enterprise subscription platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online Learning Marketplace

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Bootcamp & Intensive Program Aggregators/Marketplaces (EDAFAIAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Education & Learning Personalization (HDAAAGAL)

Keywords

• Online learning marketplace
• Course comparison platform
• Professional training aggregator
• Enterprise learning portal
• Education provider directory

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Marketplace / Lead Generation: Springest earns revenue by facilitating connections between learners and education providers. Providers receive leads and brochure requests through the platform. The site reports courses with reviews generating significantly higher pageviews and brochure requests (courses with 1 review get 4x pageviews and 3.8x brochure requests; courses with 6 reviews get 10x pageviews and 12x brochure requests).
2. Enterprise Solutions (Springest Go): Organisations with over 1,000 employees receive a tailor-made catalogue of business training programmes via Springest Go, a dedicated portal for mapping training options and processing enrolments. This is a B2B enterprise revenue stream.
3. Affiliates and Media Partners: Affiliate marketing via Zanox and API partnerships with media partners (job boards, news websites) drives traffic and generates referral revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Springest operates a multi-sided learning comparison marketplace where individuals can search, compare, review and request brochures for 38,000+ training programmes from 600+ education providers across five European countries. Through its Springest Go enterprise portal, it also sells a dedicated B2B platform that allows large organisations (1,000+ employees) to map training options, process enrolments and access volume-based in-company training. Education providers manage listings and leads via the Eduhub Admin dashboard, and discoverability is extended through media partner APIs and embeddable widgets.

Product overview

Springest operates a multi-sided learning marketplace platform consisting of Springest.net (consumer-facing learning portal for individuals to search, compare, and book courses), Springest Go (enterprise portal for organizations to manage employee training and development), and the acquired brand FindyourMBA.com (MBA comparison service). The platform also provides tools for education providers including the Eduhub Admin dashboard and embeddable review widgets. Springest Discover is a LinkedIn profile-based recommendation feature. The company positions itself as the 'Amazon of Learning' across the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, United Kingdom, and Sweden.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Springest Go: Enterprise learning solution portal for organizations with over 1,000 employees, offering tailor-made catalogues of business training programmes, mapping out specific training options for staff and processing enrolments
• Springest.net
• Springest Discover
• FindyourMBA.com

Products and services

• Springest.net (consumer learning portal) Primary learning portal where individuals can search, compare, read reviews, request brochures and book courses and training programmes from 600+ providers across the Netherlands, Germany, UK, Belgium and Sweden.
• Springest Go (enterprise learning portal) Enterprise SaaS portal for organisations (1,000+ employees) that provides a tailored catalogue of business training programmes, processes enrolments, surfaces volume discounts and in-company training options, and offers real-time insights into employee learning activity.
• FindyourMBA.com MBA comparison website acquired by Springest in June 2013, allowing users to browse, review and compare MBA programmes from 1,500+ business schools globally.

Quantifiable outcome

• Courses with 1 review generate 4x more pageviews and 3.8x more brochure requests than courses without reviews
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• StudytubecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2022Studytube acquired and owns Springest since February 2022. Together they offer optimal service to platform users. Data is shared between Springest and Studytube to provide a more comprehensive learning platform experience. Springest business customers can also access learning content on Studytube's platform.
• Edukans FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpringest donates €1 per submitted review to the Edukans Foundation, which fosters education in developing countries. Total donations reached €20,000 by 2014. Supported projects include the Ebule Primary School in Uganda and a school sponsorship programme.
• Learn! FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpringest donated €600 to the Learn! Foundation at Christmas 2012. The foundation creates education opportunities for children and young adults in developing countries. 100% of donated funds go directly to causes.
• EventbriteminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEventbrite partnered with Springest as a media partner to promote and organise events in the learning and professional development space, building a platform for event discovery and attendance.
• Reed LearningminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAn early UK education provider partner who subscribed to Eduhub/Springest's platform, praising the admin pages and professional design of the site.
• NIDAP (Dutch Research Agency)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpringest commissioned NIDAP to conduct research on educational budgets and training market trends in Germany (with Forsa) and the Netherlands. Findings showed 31% of German companies don't spend their training budgets despite HR seeing a need for training.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Studyportals: Dutch-headquartered global education comparison platform helping students compare programmes from thousands of institutions. Most directly comparable peer — same European origin, same marketplace/aggregator business model, same multi-country footprint.
• Class Central: MOOC aggregator and course comparison platform offering reviews, rankings, and discovery across providers. Closely comparable pure-play aggregator model focused on professional and academic learning content.
• GoodHabitz: Dutch-founded online learning provider serving European enterprises with soft-skill and compliance training. Directly overlaps with Springest's enterprise training market in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.
• Findcourses: Course comparison and training marketplace serving professionals seeking training across multiple providers. Closely comparable aggregator business model and target audience.

Broad incumbents

• Coursera: Large-scale online course marketplace serving individual learners and enterprises (Coursera for Business). Competes with Springest for the same enterprise L&D budget and learner attention, but at significantly greater scale and with proprietary content.
• Udemy: Global marketplace for professional courses with both consumer and Udemy Business offerings. Competes on the same learner and enterprise segments with a much larger catalogue and direct content relationships.
• LinkedIn Learning: Microsoft-owned professional learning platform leveraging LinkedIn's professional graph for recommendations. Direct competitor to Springest Go in enterprise L&D and a particularly strong substitute given Springest Discover already uses LinkedIn profile data.
• Skillsoft: Large enterprise learning platform offering content, compliance training, and learning experience capabilities. Competes for enterprise L&D budgets alongside Springest Go, particularly in regulated industries like financial services and energy.
• edX: University-affiliated MOOC platform offering individual courses and enterprise training (edX for Business). Competes with Springest in professional upskilling at much greater scale and with credential-bearing content.

Emerging players

• Learnerbly: UK-based L&D platform offering employees personalised learning budgets and curated course discovery. Comparable in the enterprise training-discovery space, particularly relevant given Springest's UK operations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Springest
• Facebookfacebook.com/springest
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/springest

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Springest