Nearpod Raises $9.2M Series A from Reach Capital, Rothenberg Ventures, Storm Ventures, Marc Benioff and More to Energize Classrooms with Powerful Digital Learning Experiences

Today, Nearpod, the ed-tech platform that lets K-12 teachers find, create and distribute digital learning experiences, announces a $9.2 million Series A funding round led by Reach Capital. Storm Ventures, Rothenberg Ventures, Marc Benioff, Deborah Quazzo (of GSV Advisors), AGP Miami, Arsenal Venture Partners, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Krillion Ventures, co-founder and Chairman of Intuit Scott Cook and his wife, Signe Ostby and Stanford’s StartX fund also contributed to the round. With the new financing, Nearpod intends to grow its team and product pipeline in order to meet the demand of school districts and teachers alike.

“Nearpod embodies the great potential of education technology by amplifying the impact of the teacher, connecting classrooms and facilitating learning that is truly responsive to the student,” says Jennifer Carolan, Co-founder and General Partner at Reach Capital. “With personalization, technology integrations and growing populations of students with specific needs, teachers are tasked with managing more complexity than ever in the classroom. The team at Nearpod built a product around educator needs -- the result is a platform loved by educators and students that responds to the complexity of the modern classroom.”

Fresh on the heels of launching the first-ever virtual reality based curriculum for K-12 schools, Nearpod is also announcing that is has seen sharp growth and has more than 3.5 million students across 10,000 schools using its platform monthly. Furthermore, the company is building a sustainable business that has been generating revenues for the last three years and is currently growing 200 percent year-over-year, emerging as a top player in the U.S. educational software and digital content market, estimated at $12 billion by the Software & Information Industry Association.

“Monetizing SaaS in edtech is difficult,” said Alex Mendez, Managing Director of Storm Ventures. “School districts have limited budgets and therefore tend to adopt new technologies with well-deserved scrutiny. Nearpod has created an amazing product that teachers love; this makes conversations with administrators compelling and removes potential friction to adoption"

On a mission to empower educators with powerful, innovative and time-saving teaching tools, Nearpod was founded by former Stanford fellow Guido Kovalskys, former Accenture executive Felipe Sommer and Emiliano Abramzon. Nearpod is a web and app-based platform that combines real-time assessment, virtual reality and other interactive pedagogical techniques with high-quality lessons. Recent research from the University of Minnesota has shown that in-the-moment check-ins and interactive content, like Nearpod makes possible, is the most effective way of helping kids retain knowledge.

“So much of what we talk about nowadays is the potential of a company or product. What’s really exciting about Nearpod is that they are actually bringing virtual reality and digital learning into classrooms, right now, in 2016. Not eventually. They are pioneers in bringing the compelling medium into classrooms,” said Brandon Farwell, Partner at Rothenberg Ventures. “For millions of kids going to school each day, Nearpod is making learning more enriching, fun, and immersive.”

“A lot of our early decisions are starting to pay off now,” says Guido Kovalskys, CEO and cofounder of Nearpod. “We’ve survived a shift from iPads to Chromebooks because our platform works on any device and because we focused on sustainable growth from actual revenues early on, we are now able to bring aboard a team of top notch investors to fuel the next stage of growth. There are a total of 125,000 schools in the U.S. and most of them are incorporating technologies at a fast pace. I am convinced that most teachers would enjoy Nearpod in their classrooms if they knew how easy and powerful it is and that’s why we’re so excited to show them the possibilities.”

This news follows other notable momentum from the company. Nearpod recently announced the recipients of its Nearpod VR grant program, an initiative that donated more than a $100,000 of virtual reality hardware, software and training to 50 schools around the world.

Free to use, Nearpod offers premium tiers for Classrooms, Schools and Districts. Learn more at Nearpod.com

About Nearpod
Nearpod is an award-winning education technology company focused on developing digital learning tools, virtual reality and interactive content across mobile devices that provides teachers an easy and efficient way to leverage technology in the classroom.

Nearpod was developed by a team of experienced entrepreneurs from Mckinsey & Co, Red Hat and Accenture and is backed by notable investors like Reach Capital, Rothenberg Ventures, Storm Ventures, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Krillion Ventures, Stanford-StartX Fund, Marc Benioff (CEO of Salesforce) and Deborah Quazzo (from GSV Capital).

For more information visit nearpod.com

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