●     Wayra co-invests a six-figure sum among other investors in a pre-series A funding of the Berlin start-up StackFuel.

●     The main focus lies in expanding the strategic partnership between StackFuel and the globally active telecommunications group Telefónica.

●     In addition to Telefónica, Daimler, Axel Springer and Deutsche Bahn are also working with StackFuel's solution.

Munich,January 23, 2020 – Wayra Germany, the open innovation hub of the telecommunications group Telefónica, today announces its participation in the pre-series A funding round of the EdTech start-upStackFuel. The Berlin-based start-up offers practical online training in data analytics and data science. Numerous customers, such as Daimler, Axel Springer and Deutsche Bahn, already offer their employees the online training opportunities designed by StackFuel.

Training for Telefónica employees with StackFuel’s solution

As an early-stage-investment-arm, wayra works closely with the global Telefónica group, always looking for the best technologies and start-ups that offer various innovations. On the other side, Wayra supports innovative start-ups in setting up internal processes in such away that they can cooperate profitably and successfully with large corporations such as Telefónica. The investment in StackFuel includes not only a six-figure sum but also Telefónica as a partner with over 350 million customers in 24countries worldwide.

For telecommunications companies, large datasets and data analytics are part of their daily business. Therefore, employees must also have the necessary knowledge and skills to work with these. StackFuel supports employees with first-class, customized online training courses that give them the knowledge they need to understand technologies, work with data, analyze it and make appropriate decisions.

Telefónicaand StackFuel have been working together since 2018

"Our partnership with StackFuel began back in 2018 when we supported Telefónica in developing a pilot project. Since then, the start-up has grown rapidly and successfully consolidated its position in the market. We are therefore confident that StackFuel will soon be one of the top players in the EdTech market in Europe", comments Alberto Pérez-Arranz, Head of Investment & Portfolio at wayra Germany, on the partnership with the start-up. "StackFuel produces its own content in different languages, which is of great importance for Telefónica with its multinational team scattered around the globe.

StackFuel has been training Telefónica employees in the Business and Artificial Intelligence department in Germany with online training courses since 2018. Using real data sets from various industries, they learn how to use data evaluation tools. The training takes place across multiple learning formats, such as in the interactive Data Lab, with an authentic learning environment.

Leo Marose, founder and CEO of StackFuel, welcomes the closer cooperation with wayra Germany: "As an open innovation hub, wayra supports us in fundamental issues such as setting up resilient processes. Besides, with Telefónica as a customer, we are strengthening our market position – not only in Germany but worldwide. Especially when it comes to topics such as automation, digitalization, data and AI, we want to useStackFuel to make employees fit for new job profiles, because this is across-industry topic today. That's why we support customers like Telefónica in preparing their employees for the job profiles that will be relevant in the future and provide the necessary know-how to reduce personnel bottlenecks.

About wayra Germany

Wayra Germany is the open innovation hub of the telecommunications group Telefónica. As an early-stage-investment-arm, wayra scales technology-oriented start-ups and pursues a "venture client" model in which the parent company Telefónica acts as a customer for the start-ups' products. With the Wayra-as-a-Service program, the corporate venture provider supports Telefónica as well as other groups in their cooperation with young companies.

More information at https://de.wayra.co/

About Stackfuel:

The StackFuel training environment offers employees hands-on programming exercises in a browser-based data lab as well as high-quality educational videos. Using business data sets, participants quickly master the most vital elements in data analytics. StackFuel’s training concept has already received multiple awards, including the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs andEnergy’s “Special Digital Literacy Prize” at CeBIT, the world’s largest computer expo, and the Startup Award at Learntec, Europe’s largest e-learning expo.

More information at https://stackfuel.com/presse/[1] 

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