Platzi: scaling an edtech in LATAM

By Freddy Vega

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Biography

Freddy Vega is the CEO and co-founder of Platzi, a Colombia-based edtech startup. Platzi sells online courses, in Spanish, on all things tech as well as other topics (English, personal finance, etc…) 

Platzi teaches more than 5 million students. It has both a B2C and a B2B component. In 2021, the company raised a $62M Series B round. Platzi was the first LATAM-focused startup to go through Y-Combinator, in 2015. 

Are you competing with local universities?

Universities are important and serve a different purpose. There are two types of education: inclusive and exclusive. The former incorporates high school for example, which is mandatory in many countries. Universities, on the other hand, are exclusive. Not everyone gets in but more importantly, not everyone has the luxury of postponing their working life by 4 years. 

In our region, a mere 17% of adults have completed higher education. What happens to the remaining 83%? They hustle, scrape by with some technical education… The reality these people live is misunderstood by diploma-holders working in offices. 

Platzi’s ethos is drastically different from a university’s. Everyone “gets in” so long as they pay the subscription. Classes are pre-recorded, for people to learn when it suits them and at their own pace. Half of Platzi’s students didn’t attend university. 

Many Platzi students pay for a Platzi subscription once they already have a job. Our subscription isn’t cheap compared to our region’s average buying power. It can sometimes represent 30-40% of a student’s salary, but they still pay. This shows Platzi’s perceived utility: students know that by paying to learn, they’ll earn way more tomorrow.  Jobs in tech pay more. 

Platzi is a flexible method of self-actualization. 

Do you have more info on your average student’s socio-economic status?