Sydney edutech startup Prosper Education has raised £2 million [AUD$3.57 million] from private investors in the UK.
Founded in 2014, Prosper has developed RoyalABC, a ‘language learning ecosystem’ based on a Cambridge English curriculum that looks to teach children British English.
The platform blends online and classroom learning for students, while also providing teachers a digital platform to plan and deliver lessons.
Martin Beeche, cofounder and CEO of Prosper, said the startup realised when it engaged with the market that it had to have an ecosystem approach to learning.
“Kindergartens and teachers needed the best product possible to help them teach in the classroom, children needed to be given an education that would make them well rounded people, and parents needed to be kept fully informed and have the option to participate in their child’s learning,” he said.
The RoyalABC product is aimed at the private pre-school sector in China, valued at $89 billion; with this in mind, the funding will go towards expanding Prosper’s sales and marketing team in China, as well as furthering product development.
“Providing a disruptive learning platform that addresses the gaps in education globally is driven by the belief that with the right teaching and learning environment, children everywhere can prosper,” Beeche said.
Along with the funding, Prosper has brought on founding team member of Mathletics, Genevieve Gilmore as its CPO, while James Guan, former vice president of technology and CTO at Pearson for Greater China, has taken on the role of CTO.
Prosper is just the latest Australian-founded education startup finding a significant market opportunity overseas.
Melbourne edutech Verso Learning last year raised $2 million to fund its further expansion across the US.
Giving educators analytical insights into their students’ work, allowing them to create data-driven teaching strategies to best engage all types of learners and enabling teachers to connect and share their strategies, the platform is used by teachers in over 12,000 schools globally; in the US it is in schools in states including California, New Jersey, South Carolina, and Texas.
Sydney company Smart Sparrow, meanwhile, services over 8000 educators globally, having formed partnerships with Sydney edutech OpenLearning and Victoria’s Deakin University and secured clients within Arizona State University, Columbia University and Stanford University.
The startup offers teachers and university professors an online platform where they are able to design their own online course content to create an interactive and ‘adaptive’ learning experience for students.
Image: Genevieve Gilmore and Martin Beeche. Source: Supplied.
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