Former Skyscanner Finance Chief Joins EdTech Startup Administrate as CFO

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Apr 18, 2016, 08:53 ET

EDINBURGH, Scotland, April 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

US office opens on back of rapid growth in North America

Left to Right are Troy Michels, John Peebles, Derek Gardner all of Administrate (PRNewsFoto/Administrate)

Administrate Logo (PRNewsFoto/Administrate)

Administrate , an EdTech SaaS solution for training providers and corporations, has appointed Derek Gardner as CFO. The former head of finance at travel search site Skyscanner joins the team at one of Scotland's fastest-growing tech companies as Administrate enters its next phase of growth. Also joining, as Chief Product Officer, is Troy Michels, previously the CTO at healthcare technology firm Sentry Data Systems. The company is on the hunt to expand its technical team and is looking to add a number of engineering roles.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150202/727896 )

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160418/356339 )

In addition to these key hires, the firm announces that it has opened its first international office in Bozeman, Montana. North America is the company's fastest growing market and the US-based team will help better serve an expanding client base in the region.

Administrate sells its software to large organisations that struggle to define, manage, report on and sustain employee engagement through training. The average firm spends more than $1,800 (£1,200) per employee per year but faces problems when trying to accurately track this spend and measure engagement. After implementing Administrate, customers realise huge time savings, can drive strategic training initiatives and increase overall student engagement. Clients include Elsevier, Scania, Becker Professional Education, FIVB, ForgeRock and the Brunswick Corporation.

John Peebles, CEO of Administrate, said: "We're delighted to welcome Derek and Troy to our team and excited to learn from their experience. Like our headquarters in Edinburgh, Bozeman is characterised by a first class university, beautiful surroundings, an outstanding talent pool and a quality of life that is a great fit with the ethos of our business."

Notes

Administrate currently employs 40 people across its Edinburgh and Montana offices.
The Administrate training management solution includes:
1. CORE: Training Management System - designed to handle all administrative tasks and save tons of time. Administrate customers use the core system to run their entire business or internal training department.
2. LMS: Learning Management System - a highly ranked, mobile friendly, SCORM compliant eLearning system.
3. WEB: Website Integration - turn any website into a course booking and registration machine. Accept payments, make your website SEO friendly and automatically update course listings. - While the overall global market for training services is estimated at almost $300 billion according to TrainingIndustry.com, Learning Management Systems (LMS) and eLearning are the fastest-growing market segments and fit squarely with Administrate's product offering. The LMS and eLearning markets are valued at approximately $7 billion and $100 billion respectively.
In December 2015, Administrate secured an additional $2.5 million (£1.7 million) in an oversubscribed funding round led by Scottish angel syndicate Archangels. 2015 saw the team more than triple in size in response to significantly increased demand for its products from North America, the UK and the Middle East.
In January 2016, Administrate was selected as one of the UK's most promising startups for Tech City UK's Upscale accelerator programme.