Outschool, a US-based online after-school activity portal backed by children’s entertainment producer Sesame Workshop, has secured $45m in a series B round led by venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners, according to TechCrunch.
Accelerator Y Combinator took part in the round, as did VC firm Union Square Ventures, early-stage VC fund SV Angel, startup investment platform FundersClub, fund manager and strategic advisory firm Reach Capital and undisclosed additional investors.
Founded in 2015, Outschool runs a live streaming marketplace where tutors can engage small groups of school children in playful activities like singing and drawing to help them practice key skills while at home.
The series B funding will help expand Outschool’s 60-person team in response to coronavirus-driven demand for its product, which could also be amended to support remote schoolwork.
Outschool’s portal currently hosts 10,000 tutors, compared with 1,000 at the start of the pandemic, and its revenues soared eight-fold during the annual period ending August 2020.
Sesame Workshop’s corporate venturing fund Collab + Sesame co-led a $1.4m seed round for Outschool in 2017 together with VC firm Collaborative Fund, with contributions from Y Combinator, SV Angel, FundersClub, Spectrum28, Learn Capital and private investor Caterina Fake.
Outschool subsequently attracted $8.5m of series A funding from a consortium co-led by Union Square Ventures and Reach Capital in May 2019.