International Media, Services, and Education Company Selects North Carolina for Divisional Headquarters Expansion

CEO of Relias and its parent company named Afya board chairman as Bertelsmann Education Group continues growth in healthcare education

Relias, a North Carolina-based healthcare education and development solutions company, welcomes its parent company to the Triangle. Bertelsmann Education Group will now have three primary locations: Research Triangle Park, NC; New York, NY; and Berlin, Germany. The expansion of its headquarters locations comes on the heels of the company’s increased stake in Afya, Brazil’s leading provider of medical education and training, which includes the appointment of Kay Krafft, CEO of Relias and Bertelsmann Education Group, as the new chairman of the Afya board.

Alongside Relias, Afya joins Bertelsmann Education Group’s portfolio of healthcare-focused education companies. Bertelsmann has been involved in the development of Afya since 2016 and had most recently acquired an additional 6 million Class B shares from the Esteves family for $161 million. It now holds 57% of the voting rights of Afya.

“Afya fits perfectly with the Education Group’s strategy. In addition to education, our focus is on expanding software solutions for risk management and workflow improvement in healthcare,” said Krafft. “We’re supporting Afya’s management in realizing this next growth phase. As chairman of the board, I personally look forward to helping them meet their goal as the reference partner of physicians in Brazil.”

Krafft founded the Bertelsmann Education Group in 2015 and stepped into the CEO role at Relias in April 2020. Since then, Relias has increased its footprint in the healthcare industry, helping more than 11,000 organizations and 4.5 million caregivers elevate care to improve outcomes.

With a focus on building an inclusive culture to attract top talent and spur innovation, Relias has grown to close to a thousand employees with around 700 based in North Carolina — up nearly 25% since Krafft became its CEO. The healthcare solutions company has also received several local and national recognitions for diversity. Among them are the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality and Seramount’s 100 Best Companies for Working Families.

Under Krafft’s leadership, Relias continuous to produce award-winning educational content while expanding solutions to help clients solve healthcare’s most critical issues: recruiting, learning and development, clinical performance, and regulatory/compliance. Over the past three years, Krafft has emphasized optimizing and improving customer and user experiences. He has invested extensively in research and development allowing for digital transformation of the platform, including added flexibility and security. This translates to better performance and elevated care from healthcare professionals and ultimately ties back to the Relias mission to improve the lives of the most vulnerable members of society and those who serve them.

“Adding the Triangle as one of the Bertelsmann Education Group’s key locations was a strategic decision,” said Krafft. “As we continue to invest in Relias and the rest of our portfolio, we want to be a part of a thriving community. I believe being seated in the middle of the Research Triangle Park and surrounded by so many incredible universities will enable us to continue to attract and retain top talent who will ultimately help our healthcare clients better serve those they care for.”