Russia’s Runa Capital has announced a $5 million investment into Dnevnik.ru, an educational platform in Russia. Dnevnik wants to expand the platform into the EU, China, Israel, the US and develop a system of cataloging and distributing educational content under its more recognisable brand of ClassedIn.
Aimed at teachers, school students and their parents, Dnevnik.ru was launched in 2009 and after three years has become one of the more widely used educational platform in Russia and the Ukraine. It’s now used by over 21,000 schools and four million users have joined the site, with almost 10 thousand schools and one million users in the Ukraine.
Uniquely it combines a learning management system, school document flow management and a social network. The basic functions of Dnevnik.ru are free. Users get access to the electronic class-book, electronic grade books of students, hybrid library, educational literature library and on-line training for exams. Currently they also get to site entrance exams to the major higher educational institutions of Russia.
Gavriil Levi, CEO of Dnevnik.ru claims they are solving the problem of automating interaction between teachers, students and parents.
It certainly has reach. It has a contract with the Russian Ministry of Education and Science and regional educational departments and committees. In 2011, it attracted $1.7 mln from Prostor Capital fund.