Author: IBL News

IBL News | New York

Google launched an innovative, free reading app for Android devices intended for children who already have some basic knowledge of the alphabet. A version for iOS and Safari browsers will come soon, according to Google.

This app, named Read Along, allows learners to learn at their own pace and track their individual progress.

It listens to learners read aloud, and offers assistance when they struggle, and guides them along as they progress. The app also rewards them with starts when they do well.

It works securely offline.

In addition, Read Along comes with a website — recently introduced as a public beta — that works with Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browsers on desktop.

Read Along tries to keep young minds engaged with stories and word games in nine languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, and Urdu.

Learners have unique profiles, and each advances on their own reading journey with recommended stories based on their reading level. They can tap on any word to hear it pronounced.

The company claimed that just like the app, all the speech recognition process takes place on the browser locally, and no data is sent to its servers to protect children’s privacy. Plus, the whole experience is ad-free.

“In addition to the website launch, we are also adding some brand-new stories. We have partnered with two well-known YouTube content creators, ChuChu TV, and USP Studios, to adapt some of their popular videos into a storybook format,” said Google in a statement.

IBL News | New York

Territorium, an American-Mexican EdTech specialized in the segment of Comprehensive Learner Records (CLR), announced this week it raised another round of financing. This time, it was Cometa, a Mexico City-based VC that only invests in leading Hispanic companies, that invested $4.4 million. To date, the total funding of Territorium has been $5 million.

San Antonio, Texas-based Territorium, which claims nine million users worldwide, said that it will use the funding to drive growth for TerritoriumCLR, its comprehensive learner record product which captures students’ academic achievements, competencies and skills, and work histories.

“The funding allows us to provide more students with a lifelong record of learning — both in and out of the classroom — giving them an advantage in the pursuit of their college and career goals, which is our ultimate goal,” said Guillermo Elizondo, CEO, and main shareholder of Territorium.

The start-up says that “TerritoriumCLR can also help employers identify the best candidates for their open positions by showcasing each person’s strengths, skills, and competencies in a much more comprehensive manner than a traditional resume.”

• More stories about Territorium at IBL News

IBL News | New York

Instructure Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: INST), the maker of the Canvas LMS, announced a revenue increase to 22% year over year until $114.6 million during the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 today.

The operating loss was $6.6 million, or a negative 5.8% of revenue.

IBL News | New York

The for-profit education technology services company Zovio (Nasdaq: ZVO) announced this week that it will sell its online program management (OPM) business to the University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC), which it had been servicing for nearly two years.

The deal was announced on Zovio’s quarterly earnings call and came two years after the University of Arizona’s purchase of another company asset, Ashford University, which became the Global Campus.

Under the terms of this purchase, the University of Arizona Global Campus continued to use Zovio as its OPM vendor. That arrangement was formally terminated in July.

The Global Campus will also take over a Zovio office in Chandler, Arizona, with eight years and $20 million remaining on its lease. Employees of the OPM business will join the University of Arizona payroll.

Chandler, Arizona-based Zovio, sold TutorMe, for $55 million in May 2022, leaving the company debt free.

Zovio will continue to support the continued growth and expansion of Fullstack Academy and simultaneously explore strategic alternatives for that business. Fullstack Academy offers coding, data analytics, and software development classes online and at their New York City campus.

The former Ashford University is still under scrutiny as part of a pending legal settlement set by the U.S. Education Department. The Federal Government plans to cancel $6 billion in debt incurred by 200,000 students who attended a group of 150 for-profit universities, including Ashford.

IBL News | New York

2U, Inc. (Nasdaq: TWOU), the parent company of edX, unveiled a new partnership model for universities that includes a more attractive revenue-sharing approach.

Essentially, 2U is shifting its one-size-fits-all model to a more customizable, platform-based approach that enables universities to design partnership packages that best fit their institutions’ needs, according to the company.

Revenue share options begin at 35% for a core set of tech-enabled services and increase from there. Higher revenue share options give partners access to the company’s full range of services and investment capital, similar to 2U’s legacy model.

As a part of this approach, 2U provides universities access to the edX marketplace and community, with 45 million learners.

At a 35% revenue share, it includes program design and management, edX marketplace & organic marketing, prospect nurturing, ongoing student support, and 2U’s Digital Campus & data analytics ecosystem.

“These services have been proven to deliver strong student persistence and high rates of degree completion,” according to 2U.

The Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is one of the first partners to leverage the combination of 2U and edX support, entering into a new partnership with the company to power a priced $24,000 Master of Business Analytics, as well as a MicroMasters program on the Fundamentals of Business.

IBL News | New York

2U, Inc (Nasdaq: TWOU) announced its second quarter financial results, showing a revenue increase of 2% to $241.5 million and a net loss increase of $41.0 million to $62.9 million. Costs and expenses for the second quarter totaled $289.4 million, a 5.5% increase from $274.3 million in the second quarter of 2021. This increase included $17.1 million of operating expenses related to edX.

In addition, the Lanham, Maryland – based company, owner of edX.org, said that it implemented a new marketing framework to decrease its spending, with $70 million in annualized cost savings,

2U Co-Founder and CEO Christopher “Chip” Paucek talked about the implementation of a plan around the edX platform, intended to drive traffic to the edX marketplace. “We are taking significant action to accelerate 2U’s transition to a platform company under the edX brand and unify our product and marketing strategy to create the world’s leading free-to-degree online learning marketplace.”

As part of the plan, Harsha Mokkarala, 2U’s current Chief Data Scientist, will now serve as the company’s Chief Revenue Officer, and Anant Agarwal, founder of edX and 2U’s current Chief Open Education Officer, will serve as Chief Platform Officer, “leading the company’s unified product and technology strategy.”

In addition, Chief Operating Officer, Mark Chernis, will step down from his role at the company effective October 3, 2022.

IBL News | New York

Coursera.org (NYSE: COUR) reduced its annual losses and generated more revenue during the second quarter of 2022, as shown in the financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2022, disclosed yesterday.

Specifically, the net loss was $49.3 million or 39.5% of revenue, compared to $46.4 million or 45.4% of revenue a year ago.

The total revenue was $124.8 million, up 22% from $102.1 million a year ago. This increase of 22%, along with the overall improvement, was fueled by the strong demand for entry-level professional certificates and the enterprise offerings.

IBL News | New York

ClassDojo disclosed this month that it raised $125 million in a Series D round, led by Tencent, at the end of last year. This funding allows the San Francisco – based company to become a unicorn at a $1.25 billion valuation.

Earlier this year, the company acquired Prendea, a Y Combinator alumni company focused on Latin America, for an undisclosed amount.

The capital injection will be used to enhance its software environment beyond the classroom.

Specifically, it plans to expand its virtual space to at least half of the 51 million kids in active ClassDojo classrooms.

ClassDojo previously raised funding from venture capital firms, including SV Angel, Shasta Ventures, and General Catalyst.

ClassDojo, an educational platform that connects teachers with students, was founded by Liam Don and Sam Chaudhary in 2011.

“We don’t want to turn it into an edutainment thing where we do math games with robots. That’s been done a million times,” said Liam Don to Forbes. “We want to expand the creative toolset that kids have.”