Tag: edtech
Newsela, the replacement for textbooks, raises $100M and becomes a unicorn
Newsela, a SaaS platform for K-12 instructional material backed by the likes of TCV, Kleiner Perkins, Reach Capital and Owl Ventures, announced today that it has raised $100 million in a Series D round. The financing was led by new investor Franklin Templeton, and brings Newsela’s valuation to $1 billion.…
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Miami edtech startup Nearpod acquired by Renaissance
Nearpod, the Miami-based edtech company, is being acquired by Renaissance Holding Corp., a group that develops education technology. While the deal hasn’t closed yet, Todd Brekhus, Chief Product Officer at Renaissance said in an interview this afternoon, “We have a definitive agreement signed by both parties.” The news of the…
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Pandemic-era growth and SPACs are helping edtech startups graduate early
Special purpose acquisition vehicles regained popularity in 2020 as an alternative way to take startups public, and now they are eyeing edtech companies. So far, Skillsoft has gone public through Churchill Capital, and Nerdy, parent company of Varsity Tutors, did the same through a reverse merger with TPG Pace Tech…
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Google to roll out slate of over 50 updates for Classroom, Meet and other online education tools
Google today introduced a suite of updates for its online education tools whose adoption and further development have been accelerated by the pandemic, including Google Classroom, Google Meet and the next generation of G Suite for Education, now rebranded as Google Workspace for Education. In total, Google is promising more…
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Goldman Sachs and Sesame Workshop pour money into this edtech firm’s newest fund
Shauntel Garvey and Jennifer Carolan liked edtech before the sector was cool, so the duo co-founded Reach Capital in 2015 with a $53 million debut fund. The San Francisco-based venture firm has since put checks into education startups including Newsela, Sketchy, ClassDojo and Outschool, landing six exits so far. Now,…
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Nerdy, a tutoring marketplace startup, is going public via SPAC
A gig economy-powered consumer edtech platform is heading to the New York Stock Exchange. Edtech startup Nerdy, which owns the popular tutoring business Varsity Tutors, is seeking to become a public company through a special purpose acquisition vehicle, otherwise known as a SPAC. Nerdy will merge with TPG Pace Tech…
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