Sherbrooke, QC, March 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Classcraft, the Quebec-based learning technology company, has closed a $3.6M USD funding round ($4.5M CAD) that positions the company to scale its efforts to help K-12 school and district administrators improve student behavior and school climate. The round, led by Brightspark Ventures, also includes Whitecap Venture Partners, Amplify Capital, and two new investors: Theodorus Investment Funds and Unreasonable Collective.
The investment enables Classcraft to accelerate its efforts to meet the global need of educators to improve student behavior and engagement in virtual, hybrid, and traditional settings. A recent Education Week report revealed that K-12 administrators cite student engagement and motivation as their biggest challenge during the latter stages of the pandemic.
With the funding, Classcraft plans to accelerate product development as well as its sales and marketing efforts. The company will also grow its team with an eye toward building partnerships within the ed-tech community.
“Behavior and motivation are at the heart of what it takes to become a successful learner. Given what students and teachers have been through during the course of the pandemic, developing these skills has become even more essential,” said Classcraft CEO and co-founder Shawn Young. “We’re excited to partner with our investors to help K-12 administrators achieve their goals of improving student behavior and school climate.”
For Theodorus and Unreasonable Collective, investing in Classcraft represents an opportunity to make a scalable impact on some of the most important challenges of education during a pandemic and provide support to the students who need it most.
“Education is the best system we have for promoting a more equitable society. With this equity investment, we are backing a Canadian leader in the K-12 education field to accelerate its expansion in the U.S. and across the world,” said Théo Risopoulos, Investment Manager at Theodorus Investment Funds.
"Classcraft is taking on one of the biggest challenges not just in education but in our culture — joining educators in the effort to improve student engagement and to help them find joy in learning and foster meaningful connections. We’re delighted to support that mission by helping fuel its growth and innovation," said Pratibha Vuppuluri, Managing Director, Unreasonable Collective.
Classcraft’s impact on student behavior
Since the start of the pandemic, Classcraft has shown an ability to make a positive impact on student behavior and engagement.
Promoting positive behavior
Teachers, administrators, and staff using Classcraft have rewarded students for 40M positive behaviors since the start of the pandemic. Educators have used Classcraft to reward behaviors associated with successful remote learning, including:
- Showing up for a video lesson on time and ready to learn: 930K times
- Being positive and hard-working: 641K times
- Completing online activities: 478K times
- Being respectful to others online: 110K times
Reducing negative behaviors
Classcraft has also helped educators decrease occurrences of negative behavior. Educators rewarded 15x more positive behaviors than negative behaviors since the pandemic began.
Promoting academic engagement
Classcraft has also helped educators keep students engaged academically while learning at home or in a hybrid model, as evidenced by:
- Teachers creating 300K personalized learning Quests
- Students completing more than 10M Quest objectives
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About Classcraft
Classcraft helps educators motivate learners to reach their potential through sustainable, playful learning experiences that promote growth and human connection. Founded in 2013 by brothers Shawn and Devin Young and their father Lauren Young, Classcraft is an award-winning ed-tech company serving more than 8 million students and educators worldwide and a Quebec-based certified B Corporation. Classcraft is used in more than 160 countries and is available in 11 languages. A Google for Education Premier Partner and member of the Student Data Privacy Consortium, Classcraft is available via Google’s App Hub and Classcraft.com.
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