Edtech of the grandson of the founder of Estácio changes its name and aims to expand in LA

Education has always been a theme present in Richard Uchôa’s life. His grandfather, João Uchoa Cavalcanti Netto, founded the Estácio de Sá University in 1970, which later became Yduqs.

Even graduating in information technology, Uchoa followed in his family’s footsteps in education. First doing a master’s degree in the area, at the University of Oxford. Then, working at Estácio, where he helped to structure the distance learning project, until he left the company in 2009. He has not been part of the corporate structure for 12 years.

But Uchoa’s career in education gained prominence in 2012, when he founded LEO Learning Brasil to work in corporate training in Brazil.

Now, ten years later, 400 clients – which include names like BRF and Coca-Cola – and R$ 30 million in annual revenue, he intends to reach higher levels in the training area, including abroad.

Aiming at the leadership of the corporate education market and expansion in Latin America, LEO Learning Brasil is renamed Revvo, a company that will dedicate itself to being more than a corporate education consultancy and that, right away, starts with an ambitious goal for you: obtain annual revenue of R$500 million by 2027.

“Until a few years ago, we had a consultancy position in the area of ​​corporate education, like a boutique, but the model did not have scale”, says Uchoa to the NeoFeed. “Our idea is to grow and create something profound, launching new products, developing new skills, operating in other Latin American countries.”

According to him, the company’s new name comes from the word revolution, an indication of Uchoa’s intentions to shake up the corporate education sector by offering disruptive products.

The new name also marks the company’s emancipation from the British group LTG, from which Uchoa licensed products and the brand to found LEO Learning Brasil.

“When I set up the company, I had nothing and I ended up using their name to conquer the market. But we ended up growing in Brazil and having a different positioning”, she says, ensuring that this change was amicably settled. “LTG will remain a minority partner in Revvo.”

To achieve the bold goals he set for the next five years, Uchoa began to restructure the company in the last three years. The first stage consisted of launching new products. The main novelty was the launch of Learningflix, in 2019. A streaming service for corporate learning, it has more than 100 webseries in areas such as leadership, sales and soft skills.

He also created, in 2020, Smart Events, an exclusive platform for live training events. In 2021, he incorporated E-Create, an edtech specialized in virtual learning environments, in addition to having inaugurated the Smart LMS Platform, which allows organizations to host online courses and monitor whether employees are carrying out training and at what level of evolution. .

Now, like Revvo, the company intends to proceed with product launches. She recently partnered with psychiatrist and best seller Augusto Cury, a researcher in the field of quality of life and intelligence development, to launch the so-called School of Emotion Management. Courses and training will be developed so that employees can deal with their emotions in the work environment.

Revvo also recently launched a program for the development of interns, called Super Interns, which seeks to train young people in the most different skills required by companies in the 21st century. Through gamification, he passes on content such as group work and emotional intelligence. Already launched, the platform was adopted by Claro, GPA and Ipiranga.

Uchoa explained that the prices of the products vary according to the number of employees and the type of training offered, whether it is a ready-made product or personalized training, and that this model will follow in the products that are being launched.

“We have plans starting at R$ 1,500 per month and the price can reach hundreds of thousands if the course is customized”, he says.

Purchasing and internationalization

To reach the goal of R$ 500 million in revenue by 2027, Revvo will also adopt two other strategies: internationalization and consolidation of the Brazilian market.

In the case of internationalization, the initial plan involves Latin America, with a presence already in 2023 in Colombia, Peru and Mexico, countries considered friendly in terms of business and with a large territorial extension, justifying the offer of corporate education.

Revvo’s initial plan is to offer the Smart LMS Platform in these countries and, later on, translate its contents into Spanish. “As our sales can be digital, the idea would be to initially establish an office in Colombia or Panama and sell our solutions to these countries”, says Uchoa.

In Brazil, Revvo plans to consolidate the corporate education market. The plan is promising, considering that the sector is made up of almost 560 edtechs, according to a survey by the Center for Innovation for Brazilian Education (Cieb) and the Brazilian Association of Startups in Brazil (Abstartup).

Uchoa’s idea is, starting next year, to make acquisitions to grow throughout the country and leave the Rio-São Paulo axis, using its own resources. “When we look at consolidation, our goal is to create an umbrella with multiple competencies and content to offer companies,” says Uchoa. “We intend for the new brand to be a market consolidator.”

Mergers and acquisitions aim to give Revvo the muscle to compete with the two main names in the digital education area at the moment in the country, UOL EdTech and AfferoLab. Both are also moving to strengthen their operations, amidst the movement in the corporate world to encourage continuous learning among employees.

UOL EdTech, which has more than 500 customers using its solutions, announced in April the purchase of Qulture.Rocks, a company that develops software as a service (SaaS) for performance management and employee engagement.

AfferoLab merged with another edtech, Bossa.etc, which bought the stake held by the German group Bertelsmann for an undisclosed amount.

Source: Neofeed