BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DreamBox Learning® (www.dreambox.com), today announced the company has closed an $11 million investment round led by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, who will invest through the Charter School Growth Fund, and a private investment by venture capitalist John Doerr. GSV Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: GSVC) and current investor Deborah Quazzo also joined this round. DreamBox Learning will use the newly acquired funds to expand its award-winning curriculum, fuel future product development, and expand distribution and adoption.
“DreamBox Learning has cracked the code on improving early educational outcomes for every child – regardless of zip code,” said John Doerr. “Their robust math curriculum and adaptive learning technology is a game-changer, transforming education across the country.”
Unlike any other adaptive learning tool on the market, DreamBox Learning has changed the paradigm of learning through dynamically individualized instruction and a rigorous curriculum that presents mathematics in an engaging, motivating way. The intelligent adaptive engine captures every mouse click to personalize learning not just on correct or incorrect answers, but also on the strategy the student is using to solve problems. It modifies the level of difficulty, scaffolding, sequencing, the number and type of hints, pacing and more. This ground-breaking technology allows each student to work in his/her optimal learning zone where a personalized learning path consistently recommends lessons that are neither too hard, nor too easy – all in real-time. DreamBox Learning adapts to any student, whether struggling or accelerated, and motivates each individual to become a proficient, mathematical thinker.
“DreamBox Learning’s highly seasoned executive management team has executed against an aggressive institutional market growth strategy, catapulting the company into the leadership position within the adaptive learning sector and they’ve only just begun,” said Reed Hastings. “This additional investment underscores my commitment to bring the power of DreamBox Learning to every school, classroom and student across the U.S. to help motivate kids to become masters of mathematics.”
“DreamBox Learning is re-democratizing and accelerating learning for every child,” said Jessie Woolley-Wilson, CEO of DreamBox Learning. “This nimble technology ‘learns the learner’ as the student engages with the curriculum to deliver the most individualized learning experience in the market today. When students work in DreamBox Learning, it’s like having a personal tutor empowered with unlimited data, infinite patience, and perfect memory. Kids love it, parents trust it and teachers know it works.”
Since fall 2010, nearly 500,000 elementary students from all 50 states have logged onto DreamBox Learning to view more than 11 million lessons. Additionally, a recent independent study by SRI International (http://www.dreambox.com/effectiveness-studies) validated the effectiveness of DreamBox Learning as students’ test scores improved by 5.5 percent after having access to DreamBox Learning Math for only 16 weeks, an aggressive goal that takes many schools a year or more to achieve.
About the Charter School Growth Fund
The Charter School Growth Fund is a social venture investment fund founded in 2005 to significantly increase the capacity of proven education entrepreneurs to serve more children. By providing financial resources and strategic expertise, the Charter School Growth Fund enables some of the nation’s most innovative entrepreneurs to build scalable, self-sufficient organizations that provide quality educational options to thousands of underserved families in diverse communities. More information can be found at www.charterschoolgrowthfund.org.
About GSV Capital Corp.
GSV Capital Corp. (NASDAQ:GSVC) is a publicly traded investment fund that seeks to invest in high-growth, venture-backed private companies. Led by industry veteran Michael Moe, the fund's strategy is to provide investors with access to the type of pre-IPO investments that have historically only been available to angel investors and venture capitalists. GSV Capital's current portfolio provides access to leading, high-growth private companies such as Twitter, Facebook, Chegg, Gilt Groupe and Zynga. GSV Capital is headquartered in Woodside, CA.
About DreamBox Learning
DreamBox Learning (www.dreambox.com) was founded in 2006 in Bellevue, Washington and acquired in April 2010 by the Charter Fund in partnership with Reed Hastings, a widely recognized educational philanthropist and CEO of Netflix, Inc. The Intelligent Adaptive Learning company launched a Web-based platform and its first online learning product in January 2009, and the program has won more than 20 top education and technology industry awards. Currently in use in all 50 states, DreamBox Learning Math targets elementary students and delivers more than 500 core lessons with unlimited variations based on the Common Core State Standards. DreamBox Learning Math software is designed to teach and reinforce key mathematical concepts through effective, individualized instruction in an engaging and fun manner.