Vienna-based e-learning startup GoStudent has increased the Series A round it raised earlier this year to €13.3 million, adding €5 million this week in a round led by Left Lane Capital and DN Capital. To date it has raised a total of €16 million.
GoStudent operates a platform connecting students with teachers worldwide for individual and group tutoring sessions. The company offers six, 12 and 24-month tutoring subscription packages to students of all ages, and provides software tools to both students and teachers, allowing each party to focus entirely on teaching, tutoring and learning while removing administrative tasks. Tutors are matched with students using AI and students can discuss their questions with others in a safe environment.
Since the early summer, it says it has expanded from the DACH region to other European markets including France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain, and has plans to extend its footprint across Europe. Although it was growing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it says it now books 100,000+ monthly sessions across its customer base with 2,000+ active tutors on the platform.
CEO and co-founder Felix Ohswald said: “During the current crisis, GoStudent became an eye-opener for parents across Europe and showed that online tutoring is the key to making high-quality education widely accessible. Because our customers are not locally bound to tutoring services anymore, kids of all backgrounds and ages can be connected to exclusively the best tutors through our virtual classroom.”
Vinny Pujji, partner at Left Lane Capital, said: “GoStudent’s high quality, yet affordable, solution is bringing many students into the world of online education for the first time. They have the opportunity to spearhead the European edtech movement in what has been a highly fragmented, traditionally offline market.”
Nenad Marovac, managing partner and CEO at DN Capital said: “GoStudent is expanding across Europe at lightning speed while maintaining a strong focus on superior learning outcomes.”
In Europe GoStudent competes with independent freelancers offering their services online and offline on marketplaces like Superprof and MyTutor, as well as institutions like Acadomia in France, Schülerhilfe in Germany and Titanium Tutors in the U.K.
However, by being online it tends to be much cheaper to access than institutions as it does not rely on renting physical space. At the same time it can offer teachers from all over a country or region, not just the ones who live nearby a student.
“The competition lacks quality assurance and long-term support. We help our customers until the kids make it out of school successfully and at the same time manage to keep our teachers long-term. Our product unlocks the full potential of the teacher and keeps them for several years,” Ohswald told TechCrunch.