Nerdy

Founded by Chuck Cohn in 2007, Nerdy is an education-focused gig economy platform. Its flagship product Varsity Tutors is reportedly the largest US online tutoring platform. Varsity Tutors uses artificial intelligence to deliver live, personalized learning to K-5 students, graduate students, and professionals. Learners can choose from more than 3,000 subjects and their preferred learning format—one-on-one, large group classes, small group classes, and individual study. Initially providing one-on-one, in-person tutoring sessions, the company has since moved into providing live, on-demand tutoring sessions, online courses, and free test prep courses for SAT and ACT. Nerdy delivered more than 4.7 million hours of live instruction across all formats in 2020.

In September 2021, Nerdy announced a new after school clubs subscription service for the Varsity Tutors platform that offers interactive activities and instruction in extracurricular subjects. 

The company bolstered its online class offering with the acquisition of Veritas Prep in 2019. Its most recent acquisition was that of Codeverse, a coding educational startup for children aged 6+, in August 2022, to strengthen its Varsity Tutors platform with the addition of Codeverse’s immersive coding classes.

Funding and financials

The company went public in September 2021 through a business combination with TPG Pace Tech Opportunities, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) associated with TPG Capital. The company will also utilize a private investment in public equity (PIPE) funding mechanism with commitments from institutional investors and use the proceeds to fund operations and expand the Nerdy platform. Nerdy will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker “NRDY."

For the full-year 2022 (FY2022), the company reported a 16% YoY increase in revenue to USD 162.7 million and an earnings loss of USD 0.41 per share (FY2021: loss of USD 0.05). Looking ahead to the full year of 2023, Nerdy raised its revenue targets to a range of USD 193 million–200 million, which represents a 21% growth rate compared to the 2022 revenue of USD 162.7 million. Additionally, the company raised its target for adjusted EBITDA loss to a range of USD 7 million to break-even.