UK private equity firm Pelican Capital has invested in Steplab, a professional development platform used by more than 200,000 teachers across England, as reported by Edtech Innovation Hub, marking the firm's tenth platform investment as Steplab pursues expansion across hiring, research, product development and international markets.

The investment value has not been disclosed. Pelican Capital confirmed that Greg Watson has joined as Chairman, John Wild as Non-Executive Director, and Troy Harris-Speid from Pelican Capital will join the Steplab Board.

Steplab provides schools, teachers, teaching assistants, pastoral staff and leaders with tools covering instructional coaching, group professional development, lesson drop-ins, secure video capture, analytics, implementation planning and training support. The platform is used by 60% of the highest-performing schools in England based on Progress 8 data for schools serving high numbers of disadvantaged students.

Claire Hill, Managing Director of Steplab, said demand for the platform has grown faster than anticipated. "The demand for what we do has grown faster than we ever anticipated, and Pelican's investment gives us the grounding and expertise to go further, faster," she said. "For schools currently using Steplab, this means even more of what's working."

Harris-Speid, Partner at Pelican Capital, said the investment reflects a shared mission. "We look forward to supporting the business on its mission to provide meaningful impact for both teachers and students globally," he said.

New board members Watson and Wild bring senior experience from GL Education and CPOMS Systems respectively, adding education technology governance expertise to support Steplab's next growth phase.

The platform's Group PD Builder allows schools to create training sessions from an evidence-informed library, while analytics dashboards track teacher progress across schools and multi-academy trusts.

Find out more about the Pelican Capital investment and Steplab's expansion plans in the complete article.