Education technology businesses attracted more VC funding in 2014 than ever before: nearly $1.87 billion, up 55 percent from 2013, according to the New York Times which cites a CB Insights report. Classical investors, such as Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz, are jumping into this scenario.
Notable financing deals include:
- Pluralsight, a company that provides online training to technology professionals seeking to stay current with programming languages, which raised $135 million.
- Remind, a free messaging service for teachers to communicate with students and parents, with 23 million users, which raised $40 million from venture capital firms including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
- Edmodo, an online social network customized for use in the classroom that is free for individual teachers, which raised $30 million.
A MASSIVE CASH PILE FOR LYNDA.COM
On the other hand, online personal and professional continuing education company Lynda.com –with a library of 5,700 classes and 255,000 video tutorials– has raised $186 million. The company, valued at $1 billion, will use the funding to hire between 150 and 250 employees and buy education technology companies. Thinkful and Treehouse may be two of them.
This is the second round of financing for Lynda, following a $100 million initial investment from Accel Partners, Spectrum Equity and Meritech.
Continuing and adult education in the U.S. is a $55 billion market.
