Knowledgehook, the Waterloo Region-based maker of math software that uses real-time classroom data to help teachers improve student learning, announced Thursday that it has raised CDN$20 million in a Series A round of funding.
The round was led by a London-based EdTech investment fund with participation from Mesoamerica’s Alexandria Corp., Nelson Education, Ideal Ventures, and Nicoya Ventures.
This latest financing follows Knowledgehook’s CDN$1.25-million seed round in 2016, which involved John Abele’s North Point Ventures.
Knowledgehook, headquartered at the Communitech Hub, was founded in 2014 and participated in Communitech’s Rev accelerator program. The company won Google’s Game Changer Award in May 2016, and a month later, was named Business News Network’s Top Disruptor.
Knowledgehook’s AI-enabled platform supports district-wide math improvement by scaling anytime, anywhere professional learning to build teacher capacity, while engaging students and providing actionable insights for parents, according to a company news release.
The program provides real-time insights on student learning gaps and helps teachers develop their understanding of the math concepts related to their students’ challenges, enabling them to adjust instruction and monitor student progress.
Knowledgehook’s research-based solution has garnered industry leading partnerships and investments from such recognized global education brands as Nelson, Radix, Spectrum, Eastpoint, Nasco Education, and University College London.
“Knowledgehook was inspired by my own struggle with math as a kid,” co-founder and CEO Travis Ratnam said in a news release. “Having the right personalized guidance makes all the difference and every student deserves to have a teacher who has access to the best pedagogical tools, and parents who have insights into their learning challenges.”
Ratnam told Communitech News that the new investment will mean growth for the company, which has a second office in Toronto.
"We're going to be making a number of critical hires in [Waterloo] region; we've already started, in fact," he said.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact student learning, edtech companies have become even more relevant.
“The pandemic is more an accelerant to the digital transformation of education; these changes were already under way,” said Knowledgehook’s Chief Financial Officer, Qamar Qureshi. “As edtech demand and investment surges, we have been selective in bringing in strategic investors that further accelerate our vision outside of simply adding capital to our balance sheet.”
