Union Square Ventures is a private equity and venture capital firm focused on early-stage, growth capital, late-stage, and startup financing. The USV portfolio companies create services that have the potential to fundamentally transform important markets.  It exclusively invests in the internet world, focusing on the applications layer of the web, internet services, and web services that create large networks as well as the mobile sector. Some of its invested companies are based in New York, San Francisco, London, Berlin, and places in between. It typically makes a starting investment in portfolio companies of $1 million. In certain Series Around cases, the firm may make a starting investment between $2.5 million to $3 million. It typically invests up to $20 million in any single company. Union Square Ventures was founded in 2003 and is based in New York, United States.

Union Square Ventures

Costanoa Ventures leads Formation, Seed, and Series A stage investments in companies that change the way the world does business.

Costanoa Ventures

Altos Ventures was founded in 1996 to invest in early-stage technology companies. After starting with $30 million in committed capital, they currently manage more than $8 billion in regulatory assets under management, supporting the full lifecycle of companies from inception to global growth and profitability.  They have been the first and lead institutional investor in 100+ companies around the world. They invest in both consumer and enterprise tech companies, with a particular interest in enterprise SaaS, FinTech, e-commerce, and consumer brands and services. They look to invest in high-growth, capital-efficient, founder-led companies. Initial investments can start as small as $500,000 while our follow-on investments can exceed $100 million in a single round, purchasing both primary and secondary shares.

Altos Ventures

Founded in 2000, Industry Ventures is an investment firm that focuses on making venture capital investments. The firm makes investments through secondary opportunities, primary fund investments and direct co-investments in venture-backed companies. The firm has $3.5B in AUM and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Industry Ventures

Owl Ventures is a venture capital fund that invests in education technology companies. The firm has invested in 24 companies across the education spectrum encompassing early childhood, K-12, higher education, and career mobility/professional learning. Owl leverages its deep domain expertise and takes an active hands-on approach to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses into transformative category-leading companies. The firm was founded in 2014 and has over $600 million in assets under management.

Owl Ventures

Based in Palo Alto, CA, Icon Ventures is a specialty venture capital firm focused on leading Series B or C financings. With over $780 million under management, Icon invests with the world’s leading venture firms in companies that are category winners at their earliest stages of momentum. Icon Ventures investments include iconic, market-leading companies such as Aster Data, FireEye, 41st Parameter, Infinera, MoPub, Palo Alto Networks and Proofpoint. For more information visit: iconventures.com.

Icon Ventures

General Atlantic is a private equity firm that provides capital and strategic support for growth companies. General Atlantic combines a collaborative approach, sector-specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon, and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to build market businesses.

General Atlantic

Quizlet

Quizlet is a learning platform that uses activities and games to help students practice and master what they’re learning. Its mission is to build great learning tools for every student on the planet. Originally created by high school sophomore Andrew Sutherland to study high school French vocabulary. Over 20 million unique visitors per month, from grade school to grad school, study a wide range of subjects using Quizlet's web and mobile learning tools and games.

Founded in 2005, Quizlet is a learning platform that uses adaptive study activities, flashcards, and various games and tests to help students reach their learning objectives. The application has different study modes, tools for teachers, and class activities. As of March 2021, the company reported more than 60 million monthly users across 130 countries with two in three US high school students and one in two US college students using the platform.

Remote learning is driving an education technology revolution.

EdTech: K-12

Quizlet Unveils Enhanced and New Digital Tools to Power Effective and Efficient Student Learning

Founded in 2005, Quizlet is a learning platform that uses adaptive study activities, flashcards, and various games and tests to help students reach their learning objectives. The application has different study modes, tools for teachers, and class activities. As of March 2021, the company reported more than 60 million monthly users across 130 countries with two in three US high school students and one in two US college students using the platform.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33152">August 2024</a>, Quizlet launched new tools including Practice Tests, Study Guides, Blast, and Categories, for users 16 and older in the US.In January 2021, the company announced an integration with TikTok allowing creators of educational content to link Quizlet study sets to their videos for a more interactive learning experience.In March 2021, Quizlet acquired Slader, an educational technology platform used by high school and college students. Slader offers detailed explanations of textbook concepts and practice problems; providing step-by-step solutions, subject-matter expertise, and a global network of student contributors. In August 2021, the platform launched “explanations”, a step-by-step guide providing learners with solutions to millions of popular problem sets in textbooks that are written and verified by experts.In September 2021, Quizlet announced that it was planning an initial public offering (IPO). Financial information made available by the company was limited except that it had reportedly doubled its revenue in FY2020.

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.
 
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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. 
 
 
 
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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>
 Quizlet, designed for users aged 16 and above in the US, has introduced new tools such as Practice Tests, Study Guides, Blast, and Categories. Practice Tests offer personalized exams with feedback while Study Guides create efficient study materials from one's notes. Blast is a fun way to learn vocabulary, and Categories allows the setup of classroom quiz shows. Unlimited access to these features is granted for Quizlet Plus users.
 
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Quizlet

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