- Online learning platform Brainly announced it has raised $80 million in Series D funding led by Learn Capital. These are the details.
Online learning platform Brainly announced it has raised $80 million in Series D funding led by existing investor Learn Capital and it included Prosus Ventures, Runa Capital, MantaRay, and General Catalyst Partners. The company’s total funding round raised to date was about $150 million.
Brainly was launched to directly support students and their parents as opposed to most educational technology companies that have built solutions to serve middle school and high school students which cater to educational institutions. And validating its differentiated approach, Brainly is used by over 350 million students, parents, and teachers every month, 30 million of which are based in the US. And since April 2020, its user base has increased by more than 75%.
The funds from the round will be used to bring new products to the Brainly community for both students and their parents. And on a global level, Brainly will expand its presence in Brazil and Indonesia, two high-growth markets.
The mass transition to virtual learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted children across all age groups. And a recent poll released by the National Parents Union shows that the majority of students (58%) are still studying virtually with reduced access to vital one-on-one instruction. Plus the pandemic has underscored what was already known about learning that students can only succeed when they have access to trusted channels to ask for help.
KEY QUOTES:
“We recognized that students require a peer-to-peer learning platform. The growth of this model has accelerated as a result of the global pandemic, forever changing the way students learn. Today, Brainly is the de facto resource for students and parents seeking help with homework from their peers and experts. While Brainly has demonstrated a high rate of growth for years, over the past six months, we have achieved growth milestones that we had projected to hit over the next few years. We receive immensely positive feedback from students, parents, and teachers using Brainly, so there are no signs of this growth slowing down anytime soon.”
“These funds will be used to accelerate growth and enable Brainly to deliver much-needed online educational resources to the hundreds of millions of students and parents around the world who have transitioned to online learning during the global pandemic, as well as those who attend school in-person but require additional help to complete their homework assignments.”
– Michał Borkowski, CEO and co-founder of Brainly
“Brainly has become one of the world’s largest learning communities, achieving significant organic growth in over 35 countries. This growth is a testament to the strength of the community and a user experience that enables students and families to succeed given their varied learning needs. Learn Capital is excited to support the Brainly team as it executes on an ambitious product roadmap en route to becoming a household name, both in the United States and around the world.”
– Vinit Sukhija, Partner at Learn Capital
