Flat World Education, a US-based education content and software company, has announced a development partnership with Brandman University, a non-profit university based in California, to expand Flat World’s platform and enable the university to offer an online, bachelor of business administration (BBA) degree delivered on a mobile device. In support of Flat World ’s expansion efforts, Bessemer Venture Partners led a $9.5m financing round in with participation by existing investors Valhalla Partners, Tribeca Venture Partners, book publisher Penguin Random House Holdings and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, the corporate venturing unit of Germany-based media group Bertelsmann.
Previously, in 2011, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), joined a $15m series B round for Flat World Knowledge, followed by a strategic investment by Randomn House.
Charles Bullock, provost at Brandman University, said: “We’re excited to pilot this platform with Flat World, as it enables us to offer students a truly innovative path to earning a bachelor’s degree that’s built for the digital age.”
James Rianhard, president of Flat World Education, said: “We have an entrepreneurial regulatory awakening, punctuated by the U.S. Department of Education actively seeking new models and encouraging experimental sites, and this is a major game changer. In response, many of our high-performing institutions of higher education are submitting new approaches to achieve more effective learning results at less cost.”