Brainly, a global online peer-to-peer learning platform, has raised $80 million in a Series D funding round led by previous backer Learn Capital.
Existing investors including Prosus Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, Runa Capital, and Manta Ray also participated in the round.
The Polish EdTech company plans to use the funds to continue building out the products that it offers to students and their parents and expand its presence in key emerging markets such as Brazil and Indonesia.
Founded in 2009, Brainly provides a platform for middle and high school students and their parents to engage with each other for advice and help with homework questions. It allows students to connect their peers and experts to both receive and offer help with homework problems and questions.
Brainly claims to have 350 million users today, up from 150 million in 2019, from across the globe. The Krakow-based company has large number of learning communities across United States, Poland, India, Russia, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey, and Latin America. It has over 55 million users from India, one of the company’s top markets.
Speaking about the company, Michal Borkowski, Co-founder and CEO, Brainly, said,
“We recognized that students require a peer-to-peer learning platform. The growth of this model has accelerated as a result of the global pandemic, forever changing the way students learn. Today, Brainly is the de facto resources for students and parents seeking help with homework from their peers and experts.”
Borkowski claimed that the company has achieved growth milestones that it had projected to hit over the next few years. He said that the platform has received immensely positive feedback from students, parents, and teachers, and that with the pandemic more parents started using the app alongside students, either to work out answers together or to get the help themselves before helping their kids. Borkowski said 15-20% of all new registrations currently are coming from parents.
Commenting on the funding, Vinit Sukhija, Partner at Learn Capital, said in a statement,
“Brainly has become one of the world’s largest learning communities, achieving significant organic growth in over 35 countries. This growth is a testament to the strength of the community and a user experience that enables students and families to succeed in their varied learning needs. Learn Capital is excited to support the Brainly team as it executes on an ambitious product roadmap en route to becoming a household name.”
In future, Brainly looks to bring more tutoring, video and AI into the mix. Besides tutoring and personalization, the company is also creating more space for adding video to demonstrate different techniques.
Brainly has last raised $30 million in July 2019 in its Series C funding round led by Naspers, with participation from Runa Capital and Manta Ray, to push deeper into the US market. With the latest funding, the Polish company has raised a total of $150 million to date.
