GFC is a globally oriented, stage agnostic venture capital firm that empowers gifted entrepreneurs. The firm seeks to invest in companies that operate within the internet, retail, financial software, media, communication, and information technology sectors. It was founded by Oliver Samwer in 2013 and is based in Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Global Founders Capital

pd ventures is a venture capital firm based in Augsburg, Germany.

pd ventures

As a global company builder & early-stage investor headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, Mountain Partners manages more than 120 investments in the sectors of E-Commerce & Consumer Tech, Enterprise Tech, Media & Marketing, FinTech, InsurTech & PropTech, and HealthTech. As the digital revolution reaches more sectors and markets, Mountain Partners selects, builds, and develops young, disruptive technology companies. With a global network of international hubs, strategically located in emerging-market regions (Latin America, Middle East, Southeast Asia), Mountain Partners supports and finances companies in the early incubation phase, internationalizes proven business models, provides active local management, and finally exits the companies through acquisition or IPO.

Mountain Partners

Grazia Equity is a venture Capital firm investing in innovative, technology driven startups with high potential. Based in Stuttgart (Germany), Grazia has been supporting a large number of mostly young companies, often from their foundation to the Initial Public Offering or eventual sale. In contrast to other venture capital firms, they predominantly work with their own capital that they invest as entrepreneurs.

Grazia Equity

Claret Capital provides specialty debt financing to European growth businesses, predominantly in the technology, life sciences and environmental sectors. Typical loan sizes range from €1M-€40M with the flexibility to do larger transactions opportunistically. They look for investment opportunities in high growth business with proven management teams in need of capital to fuel organic growth, acquisitions, equipment purchases, bridge loans and various forms of recapitalization.

Claret Capital Partners

Conny & Co. AG co-invests together with Dr. Cornelius (Conny) Boersch, the most experienced European Angel investor and a European Investment Fund-accredited Super Angel. In over 25 years of startup investing, Conny has made 350+ investments, was involved in 70+ trade sales and 15+ IPOs.

Conny & Co

Summit Partners is an investment firm that is currently investing in to growth equity, fixed income, and public equity opportunities. Summit has invested in more than 460 companies in technology, healthcare, life sciences, and other growth industries. Summit Partners enhances the value of these companies through infrastructure development, executive and board recruiting, and strategic and operational advice. The firm also brings extensive experience in helping companies navigate the complex process of public offerings or strategic sales and mergers.

Summit Partners

Lingoda

Lingoda offers online live language classes in English, German, Spanish, French with qualified, native-speaking teachers. Their mission is to empower even the busiest people to master a language and unlock their potential – anytime, anywhere.

<div>Founded in 2015 by brothers Fabian and Felix Wunderlich, Berlin-based Lingoda conducts all live and online classes using Zoom. As of September 2022, the platform offered English, Spanish, French, and German with 100,000+ students and 1,500+ teachers. More than 550,000 classes are taken annually.</div>

Remote learning is driving an education technology revolution.

EdTech: K-12

Lingoda Survey Reveals Insights Into Love Languages This Valentine's Day

<div>
 
 Founded in 2015 by brothers Fabian and Felix Wunderlich, Berlin-based Lingoda conducts all live and online classes using Zoom. As of September 2022, the platform offered English, Spanish, French, and German with 100,000+ students and 1,500+ teachers. More than 550,000 classes are taken annually.
 
 
 In June 2021, the company announced a humanitarian initiative to offer free Spanish language lessons on its platform to 100 American foster parents hosting unaccompanied migrant children from Central America living in Arizona, California, Florida, New Mexico, and Texas.
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28063">
 March 2024
 </a>
 , Lingoda introduced a new service named &ldquo;Lingoda Teams,&rdquo; which includes features such as small class sizes, continuous guided progress with the same group of students and teachers, ultimate convenience of classes available online, and an emphasis on team spirit and common learning goals.
 
 
 Funding and financials 
 
 
 In April 2021, Lingoda raised USD 68 million in funding to develop more tools for teachers, asynchronous material, and an international expansion that includes the US.
 
</div>

Founded in 2016, BookNook is an online literacy platform designed for learners in grades 1-5. Partnering with school districts and non-profit organizations, the company focuses on human-to-human learning and works with children one-on-one or in small groups, enabling it to gather rich, observational data. As of June 2021, the company partnered with hundreds of schools, school districts, and non-profits across 35 states.BookNook differs from other digital literacy tools by not requiring students to take formative assessments to check for their understanding. Rather, the platform lets teachers record qualitative data on oral fluency, such as whether a student pauses at punctuation marks as they read aloud, or reads in set phrases. Students can also record self-reflections on the platform.In June 2021, the company partnered with MIND Research Institute, a neuroscience and education social impact organization and creator of the PreK-8 visual instructional program ST Math, to deliver a High Dosage Tutoring program (HDT) for math to K-8 students to address unfinished learning. BookNook tutors will deliver tutoring sessions using the ST Math program over BookNook’s synchronous learning platform. The company launched a new teacher application portal at booknooktutor.com in October 2021, giving experienced teachers the opportunity to apply to become BookNook virtual tutors on its platform. BookNook intends to engage 10,000 virtual teachers to support 80,000 students by the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

BookNook

Story2 uses its proprietary Moments Method writing system, its StoryBuilder software, and live online group coaching to help high school students and professionals improve their writing, speaking, storytelling, and collaboration skills.The company aims to help different segments with their specific needs: students with college admission and scholarship essays, professionals preparing for interviews and creating cover letters, and business teams to improve sales, recruiting and company messaging through effective storytelling.Since 2013, Story2 has worked with more than 200,000 individuals in 21 countries with college admission essays, interview preparation, and pitching ideas. The company is expanding into China and India in 2020 and plans to focus on helping science and technology students improve their communication and leadership skills.

Story2

<div>
 
 Vooks offers a subscription-based, ad-free curated library of children's books converted to video with narration and some slow-paced animation, allowing children to read along while watching. Aimed at young children aged 6 months to 8 years, Vooks promotes reading aloud to develop fluency and comprehension. The company was founded by siblings Marshall Bex and Shannon Bex, and Russell Hirtzel, and is reportedly the first-ever streaming service for books with illustrations, read-along text and animations.
 
 
 In February 2020, Vooks raised USD 12 million in Series A funding; however, the investors and purpose of the funding were not disclosed. In November 2020, the company raised USD 21.9 million in equity investments from more than 30 investors.
 
 
 In November 2020, Vooks partnered with United Way of Metropolitan Dallas (UWMD), a community-based, nonprofit social change organization, and Atmos Energy, a natural gas distributor, to provide around 78,000 one-year Vooks subscriptions for children aged 3 to 6 and early education teachers in the Greater Dallas area. The program is funded by a USD 1 million contribution from Atmos Energy, and contributes to UWMD’s Aspire United 2030 education goal of increasing the number of North Texas students reading at grade level by third grade by 50%. Similarly, in March 2021, the company partnered with Reach Out and Read Of Greater New York (ROR GNY), a nonprofit organization of healthcare providers who promote early literacy. The partnership aims to provide more than 75,000 preschool children with one-year Vooks subscriptions starting in March 2021.
 
 
 In July 2021, it was reported that Vooks is offering its service to authors and producers as a way of quickly testing ideas with audiences through simple animated shorts. Thereby, Vooks expands its library of original content while authors and producers get real-time performance data.
 
</div>

Vooks

Xeropan offers an AI-powered, game-based approach to learning English through 14 of the most widely-spoken languages. As of October 2020, the app had more than one million players.

Xeropan

<div>
 
 GoGuardian is a provider of student security software solutions to help educators identify learning patterns, protect students from harmful and distracting content, and support students at risk of self-harm and suicide. As of August 2021, the company had partnered with more than 10,000 schools in the US, covering more than 22 million students.  
 
 
 In November 2020, GoGuardian announced a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/1863">
 merger with Pear Deck
 </a>
 to deepen the support provided to students and teachers and improve their in-class experience. Founded in 2014, Pear Deck is a student engagement platform that allows teachers to create, edit, and launch multimedia content and formative assessments on students' devices to increase student engagement. At the time of the merger, Pear Deck was used by 8 million educators and students in more than 17,000 schools worldwide. Pear Deck co-founder and Chief Educator, Michal Eynon-Lynch, will join the GoGuardian Board of Directors. In May 2022, the company acquired 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10683">
 TutorMe,
 </a>
 Zovio’s tutoring services business, for USD 55 million in cash to strengthen its product offering. 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In August 2021, GoGuardian secured a USD 200 million investment from Tiger Global Management. The funds will be allocated for product innovation, talent acquisition, and business development. 
 
 
 
</div>

GoGuardian

Businesses providing education delivery solutions such as learning management systems (LMS), and tech solutions for data analytics, administration, and other services to educational institutions.

Businesses delivering curriculum-based learning, particularly relating to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education to educational institutions and individual students.

Mostly for-profit corporations running state-funded, tuition-free schools as an alternative to traditional public schools.

Businesses providing extra-curricular education relating to the arts, hobbies, and life skills, and entities providing college and career guidance.

Businesses delivering English language arts (ELA) education, and language learning and literacy support to educational institutions and individual students.

Platforms providing students with after-school tutoring support on an individual or group basis.

Businesses delivering early childhood education, special education, and social-emotional learning (SEL) programs to educational institutions and individual students.

Entities providing professional development resources and tools for teachers, and those providing testing and assessment solutions to educational institutions and educators.

Platforms providing student-parent-teacher-school communication and networking solutions, and those providing search, reference, and marketplace solutions.

Companies that use GenAI as a core part of their product offering for EdTech: K12 solutions

Adaptive learning platforms, personalized learning plans, and AI-powered analytics provide insight into student performance

Learning platforms that promote an inclusive and equitable educational culture for underserved communities

Uses AI/ML to create personalized learning plans, adaptive learning platforms, and intelligent tutoring systems

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 Lingoda, an online platform for learning languages, has launched a new service called "Lingoda Teams." This new feature allows for a more personalized online language education experience by connecting students with native-speaking teachers and fostering a sense of team spirit among learners. To begin with, Lingoda plans to offer German classes and will eventually cover other languages and proficiency levels.
</div>

Lingoda

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