Today, the gamified learning platform The 2B Collective is proud to announce that they will partner with Whizzdom, an investment fund focused on startups and scale-ups operating in the combination of Technology, Media, Communications, and Sustainability. Through Whizzdom's investment, The 2B Collective expands and crosses borders.
Activating 2 billion people
With its platform, The 2B Collective wants to inspire and activate 2 billion people towards sustainable thinking and acting, by 2030. A challenging goal that founders Geerke Versteeg and Yvette Watson and their team work hard on every day. They serve a new market, that of Educational Technology for Sustainable Development.
Organizations must commit to training and activating their employees based on the European Green Deal and CSR legislation. In addition to intentions, companies need to show results. The 2B Collective helps them do this by inspiring and activating sustainability learning programs.
"People learn by doing and act when it is fun. People also take action so much faster when they do it together. With our gamified engagement programs, organizations can activate their employees on this century's most important social questions," said Watson.
Climate issues are increasingly urgent
The capital injection from Whizzdom allows The 2B Collective to scale up and make even more of an impact. Watson: "We are on the eve of an evolution. The climate issue is becoming increasingly urgent. Our platform can play a big role in the behavioral change we need. Not just the capital injection but bringing technological knowledge and international network in-house is a golden combination for us."
Ton Rosendaal and Joggie Taute, owners of Whizzdom, are looking forward to cooperation with The 2B Collective: "We attach utmost importance to investing in impact-driven enterprises like The 2B Collective, which actively contribute to the sustainable transition. With the participation in The 2B Collective, we want to make people and companies aware of sustainability and get them moving. This goal and the energy of Yvette and Geerke, motivated us to start working with them. Great to use our international network and experience in the e-learning sector and IT to contribute to achieving 2B's mission."
More than capital: a search for expertise and network
The founders had been thinking about attracting investors for some time. Last year, they even participated in the television program Dragons' Den, where entrepreneurs looking for an investor get the chance to pitch their own company. A special and instructive experience and ultimately the foundation of the cooperation with Whizzdom. Geerke Versteeg: "It marked the initial phase of our journey to find a suitable investor that matches our growth ambitions. The extensive preparation phase and subsequent television shoots contributed significantly to refining our requirements and vision for potential investors. Not a desired outcome at the time but ultimately a great success. We now have investors on board who are a perfect fit for us."
Sustainable Learning
The 2B Collective offers an online learning platform and method to activate large groups of people to think and act sustainably. They create inspiring learning programs based on the three proven change forces: learning by doing, humour, and competition. Over the past 1.5 years, 14 partners have joined, including the United Nations System Staff College and Dutch consultancy firm De Duurzame Adviseurs. A total of 46 different successful programs have been played by more than 18,000 players, at organizations such as Rijkswaterstaat, several municipalities, Nationale Nederlanden and Vattenfall. In this way, every employee contributes to the sustainable objectives as an expert in their own work.