Esme Learning Solutions Secures a Further $15 Million in New Funding Round
BOSTON, Dec. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Esme Learning Solutions, a global leader in online professional development has announced a further $15 million in new funding to support the edtech company’s rapid global expansion.
Previous investors, Adit Ventures are committing a further $10 million with leading edtech solution providers, ThriveDX making a strategic investment of $5 million. The new investment will help Esme Learning Solutions expand its existing portfolio of courses with partners such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and Imperial College Business School. It will also invest in technology and data analytics to further improve learner experiences. The funding round follows Esme Learning Solutions’ acquisition of AI collaboration platform Riff Analytics earlier in the year.
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Student media giant Chegg acquires language learning startup Busuu for $436M
Chegg, the NYSE listed student media learning platform is acquiring Busuu, the online language learning startup established in Europe in 2008, for approximately $436 million (€385 million) in an all-cash transaction.
At its exit Busuu had raised only $16.1m in total, a tiny amount even I in European terms, and testament to the sheer grit of the founders who, by the end, had built a business that had reached over 120 million learners to date across more than 160 countries. Busuu provides courses in 12 different languages to over 500,000 paying subscribers.
The company’s last funding round was May 27, 2020 for $2m from GP Bullhound and ultra-high net worths. Prior to that the previous investors had consisted of Harold Primat, McGraw-Hill Education, PROfounders Capital, Martin Varsavsky and Johann “Hansi” Hansmann (according to CrunchBase).
Target Global leads $3.5M pre-seed in Nigerian online learning platform Edukoya
For years, offline test preparation centers in Nigeria have provided after-school guidance and tutoring to students who seek to pass entrance examinations. Edtech platforms such as Edukoya have sprung up with the intent to take these models online and maintain affordability for students.
Today, the Lagos- and London-based startup, which builds online education content and offers online tutoring for students and their parents, raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding led by European VC firm Target Global.
The platform offers a range of features such as a 24/7 exam preparation and homework help, a question bank with step-by-step workings and personalized performance tracking systems.
UK’s Atom Learning picks up $25M from SoftBank for an AI-based online learning platform aimed at elementary school-aged students
The Covid-19 pandemic ushered in a new chapter for virtual learning, giving a boost of attention to existing tools and spurring the creation of new services and use cases as students of all ages were ordered to stay home and stay out of classrooms. Today, one of the startups that’s been a strong benefactor of that trend is announcing some funding to continue its growth. Atom Learning — a London startup that builds AI-based online education materials aimed at primary aged (7-11 years) children, their teachers, and their parents — has raised $25 million, money that it will use to continue its growth in the UK market, to start to look at plans to expand internationally, and to continue building out the data science and content that it provides to its users.
The funding is coming from a single backer, SoftBank, via its Vision Fund 2, and Aton claims that this sum is the largest-ever for Series A round for a UK edtech startup.