Carlyle Cardinal Ireland invests in Derry’s Learning Pool

Private equity fund Carlyle Cardinal Ireland has invested an undisclosed sum in Northern Ireland based e-learning company Learning Pool.

The Derry-based company employs 80 people and offers online learning solutions to organisations throughout the UK, with more than 1.25 million people using the resources every day. More than 80 per cent of local councils using Learning Pool software for staff training, and its customers include the NHS, the UK Houses of Parliament, Jury’s Inn, Capita, and British Sugar.

The new funding will allow Learning Pool to build its team and develop new products, with Jonathan Cosgrave and John Dolan from CCI joining the board of directors

“We have always believed in Learning Pool’s potential to take on the world and have doubled our business over the last three years,” said chief executive and founder of Learning Pool Paul McElvaney. “In CCI we believe we have exactly the right partners to help us develop our business and help us realise that potential. This investment will fast track our growth and allows us to build out our technology and content at a quicker pace for our customers benefit.”

The deal with Learning Pool marks CCI's first investment in Northern Ireland, although the company indicated it planned to examine more.

The €292 million equity fund has also invested in business process-management company Abtran, consumer payments company Payzone and premium chocolate manufacturer Lily O'Brien's.