French EdTech startup Filiz has secured €6 million in Series A funding from Hexa to scale its apprenticeship contract management platform across Europe.
Europe’s private education sector stands at an inflection point. While digital transformation has swept through every other industry, educational institutions remain anchored to legacy systems that frustrate administrators, teachers, and students alike. This persistent inefficiency has created a significant market opportunity that French startup Filiz is determined to capture.
The Paris-based company, founded in 2021 by husband-wife duo Maxime and Aurélia Jacquet, has developed a comprehensive SaaS platform that digitizes and automates the complex administrative workflows around apprenticeship contracts (alternance) and internships for vocational training centers (CFAs) and private schools.
The Problem: Administrative Chaos in French Education
French apprenticeship programs face unique complexity. Recent reforms linking public funding to attendance and employer contributions have increased administrative burden significantly. Schools must navigate:
- Automated generation of CERFA forms (official French administrative documents)
- Compliance with hundreds of apprenticeship regulations
- Direct integration with OPCO systems (skills operators who manage funding)
- Electronic signatures and document management
- Financial tracking and invoicing tied to complex funding rules
Most institutions still rely on manual processes or outdated, fragmented software that requires constant reconciliation.
Filiz’s Solution: Purpose-Built for European Reality
Rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all American model onto European schools, Filiz built its platform specifically for the French regulatory environment. The system handles:
- Automated contract generation with built-in compliance checks
- Direct OPCO integrations for faster funding approval
- Electronic signature workflows for all stakeholders
- Financial management including invoicing and payment tracking
- Real-time dashboards for visibility across all contracts
“Behind every education reform are teams just trying to run their schools well,” said Maxime Jacquet, Co-founder and CEO. “Every week, we meet directors who need clarity in a changing system and tools to ease their administrative burden. Filiz is here to do both — build the infrastructure and help them navigate change with confidence.”
Traction: 500+ Campuses, €2M ARR
The company’s product-market fit is evident in its metrics:
- 500+ campuses across France
- Clients include École 42, Albert School, CFA Numia, and Datascientest (Omnes Education)
- €2M in annual recurring revenue (ARR)
- 95%+ client retention rate
- Tripled revenue year-over-year
- Remained bootstrapped and profitable until this raise
“Since the beginning at Albert School, we’ve been using Filiz to manage the administrative and financial aspects of our apprenticeship contracts,” said Mathieu Schimpl, Founder & COO of Albert School. “Our collaboration feels much more like a partnership than a client-provider relationship. The product has been continuously evolving since day one to actively support us with both internal and external challenges. In 2026, Filiz is a must-have.”
Series A: Hexa Backs European Expansion
The €6 million Series A comes from Hexa (formerly eFounders), the French startup studio behind unicorns like Spendesk, Aircall, and Front. The investment includes both capital and long-term operational support through Hexa’s Scale program.
Augustin Celier, Partner at Hexa, will work directly with the Filiz team. Celier is a serial entrepreneur with four companies under his belt, including three successful exits. His most recent venture, Uptime (predictive maintenance for elevators), raised €15M and was acquired by Otis.
“Filiz has already built one of the most intuitive products in its category,” said Celier. “Our partnership is about helping the company move from a proven product to a European standard — combining Hexa’s scaling expertise with Filiz’s understanding of its market to build the category leader for higher education in Europe.”
What’s Next: 10x Growth in 5 Years
With the funding, Filiz plans to:
- Expand geographically – Priority markets include Germany, Spain, Italy, and Benelux
- Strengthen the leadership team – Including hiring a late co-founder focused on sales and marketing
- Evolve the platform – Moving beyond financial/administrative management to an all-in-one operations system
- Add AI-powered tools – For planning automation, task management, and real-time insights for school directors
- Scale to larger institutions – Supporting multi-campus networks and larger private schools
The company aims to grow revenue 10x within five years, reaching €20M ARR by 2030.
Why European EdTech Has a Structural Advantage
Filiz’s success highlights a broader trend: European EdTech companies enjoy competitive moats that American solutions cannot easily replicate.
GDPR compliance, complex national curricula, and strict data protection frameworks create significant barriers to entry. Schools are increasingly reluctant to adopt American platforms that can’t navigate these regulatory requirements.
Private higher education enrollment has doubled in France over the past 20 years, with similar trends across Spain, Italy, and Germany. Yet most institutions still operate on outdated systems, creating massive opportunity for platforms built specifically for European regulatory reality.
“European schools operate under strict data protection frameworks that American solutions simply cannot navigate,” explains the investment thesis. “Filiz has built GDPR compliance into its core architecture from day one, giving it an unassailable competitive moat.”
Market Context
While most 2025 European EdTech funding rounds in administrative software have remained below €3 million, Filiz’s €6M raise represents one of the larger transactions in its category this year.
Recent comparable rounds include:
- DigitalErleben (Germany): €1M for AI-powered teacher tools
- Kidola (Luxembourg): €1.3M for childcare management SaaS
The larger funding round reflects growing investor appetite for platforms that digitize education operations — particularly those with proven product-market fit and clear expansion paths.
The Bigger Picture
Filiz’s story illustrates how verticalized SaaS companies can build defensible businesses by deeply understanding regulatory complexity. Rather than chasing massive TAM with generic solutions, they’ve dominated a specific niche — French apprenticeship administration — and built a foundation for European expansion.
For founders in regulated sectors, the playbook is clear: compliance isn’t a feature, it’s the product. Understanding local requirements better than anyone else creates moats that capital alone cannot overcome.
About Filiz
Founded in 2021 by Maxime and Aurélia Jacquet, Filiz is a French SaaS platform that helps private schools and apprenticeship centers manage their financial, administrative, and academic operations. The company serves 500+ campuses across France with €2M in ARR.
About Hexa
Hexa (formerly eFounders) is a startup studio founded in 2011 that has launched over 40 companies including unicorns Spendesk, Aircall, and Front. The studio has created over 2,800 jobs and generated $4.5B+ in combined company valuations.