Poland-based peer-to-peer learning platform Brainly has secured $30m in a funding round led by media and e-commerce group Naspers.
Venture capital firm Runa Capital and VC fund Manta Ray also took part in the round, which increased the company’s total funding to $68.5m.
Brainly operates an online platform that allows more than 150 million monthly users to share and collaborate on schoolwork. The network is used by children, parents and teachers in countries such as Russia, Indonesia, India, Turkey, Brazil and Poland.
In addition to bolstering user experience and further developing the portal, Brainly intends to put the capital from the round towards accelerating expansion in the US.
The company closed a $29m series B round in late 2017 after Kulczyk Investments led a $14m extension that included Naspers, Runa Capital, General Catalyst and Point Nine Capital. It added to a $15m tranche led by Naspers Ventures in 2016.
General Catalyst, Runa Capital and Point Nine Capital all chipped into Brainly’s $9m series A round in 2014, with the latter having also providing $500,000 of seed funding in 2012.
Larry Illg, chief executive of Naspers Ventures, said: “At Naspers, we back companies seeking to address big societal needs like education, helping them fulfill their vision with the ultimate aim of achieving global scale.
“Brainly has the potential to serve the needs of hundreds of millions of students around the world and [Brainly co-founder and CEO Michal Borkowski] and the team are building an invaluable service for learners everywhere.”