GoGuardian, an education technology company that sells software to K-12 schools, has raised $200 million in a private equity round led by Tiger Global Management.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the funding brings the Los Angeles-based startup’s total valuation to more than $1 billion.
Founded in 2014, GoGuardian is on a mission to supercharge human potential by creating the ultimate learning platform. It believes that education is the highest point of leverage for improving society and that digital learning can meaningfully advance educational outcomes for every student, school, and district. The company helps thousands of K-12 schools and districts maximize the learning potential of every student by providing solutions that enable more productive, effective, and safer digital learning. Its products help educators identify learning patterns, protect students from harmful and distracting content, and support mental health.
GoGuardian began by offering a Chrome tool that lets schools track and filter student internet browsing. The company’s software is now being used by more than 22 million students from kindergarten to 12th grade and over 10,000 schools in the US. Its clients include 23 of the 25 largest US districts. According to the report, GoGuardian has signed statewide deals with Delaware and West Virginia this year and plans to do more in the future.
In addition to web filtering, GoGuardian offers classroom management and monitoring products, including a feature that identifies students at risk for suicide or violence.
GoGuardian claims to witness an explosion of interest during the pandemic. It claims to witness its sales grew by over 150% since last summer. According to its Chief Executive Officer Advait Shinde, the company has been “cash flow positive since day one.”
According to Shinde, the splurge in EdTech from remote schooling won’t end even as districts reopen in person. “Teachers who were previously on the fence are now going to continue using these tools. It’s a permanent acceleration toward the use of technology,” he was quoted as saying in an interview.
While GoGuardian currently operates only in the US, Shinde said it plans to expand globally following the latest investment, which makes Tiger Global a minority shareholder.
In a statement, John Curtius, Partner at Tiger Global, described GoGuardian as a “true end-to-end SaaS platform for K-12 education.”
Over the last year, GoGuardian has acquired two EdTech companies and added Julie Larson-Green, a Microsoft Corp. veteran, to its board of directors. It acquired Edulastic, a next-generation online assessment platform, in June 2021, which made the combined platform becomes one of the most widely used educational technology ecosystems in the United States, reaching one out of three K-12 students nationwide. Prior to this, the company had acquired Pear Deck, an award-winning and market-leading student engagement platform, in November 2020.
