Dunce Deals 8/29/20 - Ilk, Eddy Learning, Arist, Ladder, Epihub, Tract
Hi, I'm John Danner, Managing Director of Dunce Capital. Dunce Deals is my look at the most interesting deals and news from edtech and the future of work. In the last four years, I have made over two dozen pre-seed investments in the space including Lambda School, where I am on the board, Outschool, Prenda, and Supernow. Before Dunce, I founded three companies, NetGravity (IPO), Rocketship Public Schools (12k students) and Zeal (sold 2018).
Thoughts
I hope you are having a great weekend. Sorry to be a bit slow this week, life got in the way! This was YC week, so a few more deals from them. Fingers crossed for all of the schools opening this week and next and trying to make their way in a covid world.
Deals
Ilk
Description: pandemic pods for preK and k12
Website: ilk.io
Founder: Brian Park
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-park-52b51b32/
Email: briankpark@yahoo.com
Stage: Seed
Raising: Yes
Dunce Deal: No
Notes: Brian is a former wonderschool guy, working on putting together pods for families.
Eddy Learning
Descirption: Personalized Learning Plans for students - selling to parents
Website: eddylearning.com
Founder: Charles Thornburgh
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-thornburgh-146405
Email: charles.thornburgh@civitaslearning.com
Stage: Seed
Raising: Yes
Dunce Deal: No
Notes:Charles was the former founder of Civitas Learning in higher ed. He has young kids and is working on a product for parents to manage their children's learning goals and tools.
Arist
Description: the text message learning platform: Create remote friendly courses in minutes. Start for free building your very own text message microlearning courses with a learning management system (LMS) built for speed.
Website: arist.co
Founder: Michael Ioffe
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelaioffe/
Email: michael@arist.co
Stage: Seed
Raising: Yes
Dunce Deal: No
Notes: Corporate training is not my space, but text based training to front line workers (baristas) makes sense.
Ladder
Description: Train people to become certified nurse assistants (CNAs) and help them find jobs.
Website: withladder.com
Founder: Anuraag Yachamaneni
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuraagy/
Email: ayachamaneni@gmail.com
Stage: Seed
Raising: Yes
Dunce Deal: No
Epihub
Description: One tool for your online school
Website: epihub.com
Founder: Uday Singh
LinkedIn: no linkedin
Email: uday@epihub.com
Stage: Seed
Raising: Yes
Dunce Deal: No
Tract
Description: Trusted, student-directed online learning platform that helps parents easily implement high quality, engaging learning at home.
Website: tract.app
Founder: Ari Memar
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arianmemar/
Email: ari@tract.app
Stage: Seed
Raising: Yes
Dunce Deal: No
Notes: Ari is a former Uber PM working with Esther Wojcicki on a better way for k12 students to learn online. Components of live learning and curriculum.
Here is the complete list of Dunce Investments:
Mystery Science - purchased by Discovery Education 2020
Swing - on-demand talent for the education market
Epic! - the best children’s books digitally for every classroom and every home
Kunduz - the leader in test prep for Turkey
Erudifi - loans for students going to vocational schools and higher ed in SE Asia.
Outschool - the best marketplace of live small classes for your k-12 student
Juni - Coding, Math, and English instruction 1-1 and small group
Lambda School - teaching students to code and get jobs in great companies
LingoKids - English learning for young children
Padlet - a modern document creation and sharing platform
TinyCare - micro-daycare centers
SV Academy - teaching students tech sales and getting them jobs in great companies
Sora - a better high school, completely online
Prenda - micro-schools to unlock your child’s talent
Galileo - the first online world school
Beanstalk - live classes for young children
GetSetup - live social network for seniors
Primer - live academic and social network for homeschoolers
Contra - social network for freelancers
Fourthrev - run digital bootcamps for universities focused on in-demand job skills
Marketerhire - marketing experts from that you can rent
Abwaab - the best test prep platform in MENA
Supernow - live classes and clubs for elementary and middle schoolers
Maven - the leader in cohort-based courses
Prendea - live classes and social network for students in LatAm
Kritik - peer grading for higher ed
Major League Hacking - hackathons and fellowships for university students
Reforge - live classes on Growth for upskilling professionals
Synthesis School - learn problem-solving by playing video games
AI Camp - AI for ages 13-18 from Stanford pHDs.
Bindr - Silent study groups online.
The Explanation Company - Google for kids.