ST. LOUIS, Nov. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Varsity Tutors, the leading live learning platform for private instructors in the United States, announced today it closed $50 million in Series B funding from Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), musician and TV personality Adam Levine and education executive Stuart Udell, among others. As part of the terms of investment, Woody Marshall (TCV General Partner) and Erik Blachford (former CEO of Expedia, Hotwire and Hotels.com) joined Varsity Tutors’ Board of Directors. The new round of funding follows a previously unannounced $7 million in Series A funding from Answers Corporation executives David Karandish and Chris Sims that first closed in May 2014.
The capital will be used to fund product improvements related to Varsity Tutors’ core online live tutoring technology, its mobile applications and its backend infrastructure and logistics systems, as well as further the company’s growth toward becoming the world’s largest source of free, professional-grade academic content.
“We are excited to announce our new partnership with TCV,” said Varsity Tutors founder and CEO Chuck Cohn. “We now have the financial support and resources of world-class Internet investors who can help Varsity Tutors develop its technology and expand access to high-quality, live, video-based expertise on both web and mobile.”
Since its founding in an Introduction to Entrepreneurship course in 2007 at Washington University in St. Louis, Varsity Tutors has grown rapidly and has connected nearly 50,000 students to more than 15,000 thoroughly-vetted instructors nationwide. Students have benefitted from more than one million hours of live one-on-one instruction on the platform since its inception.
With a mission to accelerate the academic achievement of all students by improving access to high-quality education, Varsity Tutors launched Varsity Learning Tools in 2013—an ambitious quest to provide free academic content to students worldwide. To date, students have completed more than 40 million problems on Varsity Learning Tools.
“We are incredibly impressed by the technology, content and mobile applications that Varsity Tutors has developed,” said Marshall. “We believe that Varsity Tutors has the opportunity to significantly expand access to high-quality instruction by connecting people who need expertise with that expertise.”
About Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors is a live learning platform that connects students with personalized instruction to accelerate academic achievement. To date, students have accessed more than one million hours of live instruction on the platform. Additionally, through the company’s free online learning tools and mobile applications, Varsity Tutors has created a learning ecosystem of more than 100,000 free practice questions, answers and explanation sets across more than 150 subjects and standardized tests. Varsity Tutors was founded in 2007 at Washington University in St. Louis. For more information visit www.varsitytutors.com.
About Technology Crossover Ventures
Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), founded in 1995, is a leading provider of capital to growth-stage private and public companies in the technology industry. With nearly $10 billion in capital raised, TCV has invested in more than 200 technology companies over the last 20 years. Selected investments include Altiris, C|NET, ExactTarget, Expedia, Facebook, Fandango, FX Alliance, GoDaddy, Genesys Software, Groupon, HomeAway, Netflix, RealNetworks, Redback Networks, Rent the Runway, RiskMetrics Group, Sitecore, Splunk, Spotify, Thinkorswim, VICE Media and Zillow. TCV is headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with offices in New York and London. For more information about TCV, including a complete list of TCV investments, please visit www.tcv.com.
CONTACT
Sara Shiffman: 312-635-8200
varsitytutors@allisonpr.com
SOURCE Varsity Tutors
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