ClassDojo Raises $35 Million Series C, Building World's Most-Loved Consumer Brand in Education

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Feb 28, 2019, 08:42 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, ClassDojo – the consumer education brand behind the world's most-widely used communication app for pre K-8 schools – announced it raised Series C funding. The $35 million round was co-led by GSV (Spotify, Lyft, Dropbox) and SignalFire (Grammarly, Zume, Lime) along with participation from prior investors, including General Catalyst (Stripe, Airbnb, Snap) and Uncork Capital (Eventbrite, Fitbit, Poshmark). This brings the total raised by ClassDojo to $65 million.

Student showing his ClassDojo digital portfolio

ClassDojo's long-term vision is to help every child on Earth get an education they love. 'Love' isn't usually the first word people think of when they think of education: surveys show over half of all U.S. families are dissatisfied with their children's education experience and legacy education companies have customer experience (NPS) scores in the negatives or single digits. With an NPS of 76 – in line with consumer brands like Netflix or Nike – ClassDojo is building the world's first consumer brand in education.

"We believe the world's $10 trillion education market is at the very beginning of a shift from top-down decisions, to serving consumers — teachers, children, and families," said Sam Chaudhary, ClassDojo co-founder and CEO. "People know a great education isn't a product that can be built and 'shipped' to classrooms, like an iPhone or a Tesla. It's an experience that gets created every day by the community of people in schools doing the work: teachers, children, families, and school leaders. They are the most important part of the education system, and they're beginning to demand better. Our focus is on serving these communities, helping them give their children an education they love. This financing accelerates our ability to do that through international expansion and investment in more education experiences."

ClassDojo has grown rapidly through word-of-mouth to reach over 95% of U.S. pre K-8 schools. One in six U.S. families with a child in primary school uses ClassDojo every day. The company serves hundreds of thousands of schools in a further 180 countries; in 10 of those countries, over 25% of all primary school teachers use ClassDojo, including Singapore, Australia, Spain, Hong Kong, the UK, and the UAE. Growth has been 100% organic, by word-of-mouth referral from existing users. In response to demand from families, in late 2018 the company launched an optional subscription product for families – Beyond School – to help them get even more educational experiences for their children, with subscribers growing rapidly to date. All of this has been achieved with a team of 40.

"Today's most important companies are customer obsessed. They put their users' experience first. ClassDojo is doing that for children, teachers, and families in education," said Deborah Quazzo, Managing Partner at GSV. "And it shows: today, they already serve 3% of children in primary school in the world. What Netflix did for entertainment — making it an experience consumers love — ClassDojo is poised to do for education. We're delighted to partner with the team, and are tremendously excited about their prospects for growth and impact in education."

Sue Stevenson, a Year 1 teacher in Queensland, Australia, spoke about her experience: "ClassDojo is by far the best thing I have encountered in my 36 years of teaching. The ClassDojo experiences on growth mindset, empathy, and mindfulness have made a wonderful difference for my students. We have a shared language for our classroom we wouldn't have otherwise. And our families love it too — family engagement and support is at an all-time high, across all our classrooms. I can't imagine teaching without ClassDojo!"

The funding announcement comes after news in Q4 2018 that ClassDojo began rolling out a new product for families: Beyond School. Available in the existing ClassDojo app, Beyond School is an optional subscription that gives families access to learning experiences for their children at home, beyond what's happening in the classroom. Revenue from Beyond School will be used to keep improving ClassDojo, which will remain free for all teachers, children, and families everywhere.

"Business models matter, because they tell you who your customer is," said Tim Brady, Partner at Y Combinator. "There are companies out there that sell ads — their customers are advertisers. Or companies who prioritize the people holding the purse strings — like a lot of the old education companies. ClassDojo has taken a different approach, aligning their incentives with the teachers, children, and families on the ground. It's a simple, clear, obvious model, and one that aligns them with serving the real 'consumers' of education — children and their families."

75% of parents who use Beyond School say it has helped them feel more connected to their child, and 80% say it's something the entire family enjoys using together.

"We've been a communication app for classrooms, and now we're growing far beyond that," said Liam Don, ClassDojo co-founder and CTO. "We intend to build the world's most-loved consumer brand in education, and we believe there is an incredible opportunity to do so by serving the people doing the work: teachers, children, families, and school leaders."

For more information on ClassDojo please visit www.classdojo.com. And for ClassDojo imagery please click here.

Quick Stats

Series C $35 million; total raised $65 million
95% of Pre K-8 schools in the U.S. and 180 countries use ClassDojo
1 in 6 U.S. families with a child in primary school use ClassDojo every day (40% increase from last year)
3% of primary school students around the world use ClassDojo
In 10 countries, more than 25% of primary school teachers use ClassDojo, including Singapore, Australia, Spain, Hong Kong, the UK, and the UAE.
NPS of 76
Team size of 40

About ClassDojo
ClassDojo's long-term vision is to help every child on Earth get an education they love. Founded in 2011 and based in San Francisco, California, ClassDojo is a school communication platform that teachers, students, and families use every day to build strong relationships and supportive communities. This is done in two ways. One, by sharing what's being learned in the classroom back home through student portfolios, photos, videos, and messages. And, two, by helping students build social-emotional skills through in-classroom feedback and engaging activities. Today, 95% of pre K-8 schools in the U.S., as well as a further 180 countries, have joined ClassDojo. To learn more, visit: classdojo.com or Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

SOURCE ClassDojo