Kaplan, a provider of educational services owned by the Washington Post Company, has invested $3.5m as part of a fourth funding round for child education company Headsprout.
In 2005, Score Educational Centers, a subsidiary of Kaplan, had started partnering with Headsprout, a provider of computer-based learning programs to teach four- to seven-year-olds how to read and five years later saw Kaplan make its first reported corporate venture deal.
Headsprout said it had closed an $8m series D financing to expand its sales, marketing and new product development efforts with existing investors including Roser Ventures, Sofinnova Ventures and others contributing the remaining $4.5m in the round.
In March, VentureWire, a news provider, said Headsprout had raised about $257,000 toward a $1m round of debt, rights and securities and in 2003 had closed a $6.3 million series C round from investors, including Homer Foundation, Raisin Fund, Roser Ventures and Sofinnova Ventures.
David Anderson, chief executive of Headsprout, said: "This new round of investment will enable us to expand our base of more than 1,000 schools and 300,000 learners nationwide that have used Headsprout Early Reading to achieve grade-level and beyond reading scores."
Joe Layng, senior scientist and co-founder in 1999 of Headsprout, added: "According to the latest US government figures, it is estimated that more than 20 million people are illiterate. Nearly 70% of all 4th graders today are not proficient readers and 35% of 4th graders are not reading at a ‘basic’ level. In urban environments these numbers are even higher."