Labster, the developer of a virtual laboratory simulation platform, raised USD 60 million in Series C funding in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with existing investors GGV Capital, Owl Ventures, Balderton Capital, David Helgason (Founder, Unity Technologies), Northzone, Swisscom Ventures, and EduCapital also participating.

The new funds will be used to support the company’s global expansion efforts, particularly into Latin America and Africa, and to develop new science courses. The company is establishing operations in South America in spring 2021 and also plans to grow its global headcount across its engineering, product, sales, and customer success teams.

Besides growing its core offerings, Labster is also exploring ways to extend its virtual lab platform to students over mobile devices in order to reach those without access to laptops or a broadband internet connection.

Labster’s efforts are focused on meeting two major goals: reaching 100 million students over the next few years, and allowing users to customize their own simulations on the Labster platform.

By increasing its focus on customizable immersive learning, the company is pausing its efforts on the virtual reality front.

Founded in 2011 by Michael Bodekaer Jensen and Mads Bonde, Labster is the developer of a game-based platform with virtual laboratory simulations. The simulations can be used as a full lab replacement or as a complementary learning tool for in-person, hybrid, and remote university and high school education. In addition, the platform offers 3D animations for certain concepts, replays of simulations, quiz questions, and a virtual learning assistant for each simulation. Labster's platform is used by more than 2,000 colleges, universities, and high schools across more than 70 countries, as of February 2021.