Law360 is providing free access to its coronavirus coverage to make sure all members of the legal community have accurate information in this time of uncertainty and change. Use the form below to sign up for any of our weekly newsletters. Signing up for any of our section newsletters will opt you in to the weekly Coronavirus briefing.
Sign up for our Private Equity newsletter
You must correct or enter the following before you can sign up:
Thank You!
Law360 (September 1, 2020, 2:46 PM EDT ) Cooley-led Owl Ventures, which bills itself as the world's largest education technology-focused venture capital firm, said Tuesday its two new funds secured a total $585 million in commitments as educational institutions have overwhelmingly moved classes online amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Silicon Valley investment company said its fourth fund raised $415 million and its first Opportunity Fund closed with $170 million, according to an announcement about the investments. The firm said the money will support its continued contributions to companies in all growth stages that are developing edtech to be used by pre-K through 12, higher education and professional learning institutions.
"Due to the shift to remote learning and work, we find ourselves in a watershed moment for the over $6 trillion education and training market as the rising digital penetration in the sector that had already been taking place has surged," Owl Ventures managing director Tory Patterson said in a statement.
The firm also noted that its portfolio enterprises in the U.S., China, Europe and India have been critical to supporting students around the world, which has pushed their user engagement and customer bases to new heights during the pandemic.
Owl Ventures, launched in 2014, has been a major investor in digital education companies including expert-led online classes platform MasterClass, digital flashcard and studying site Quizlet and educational messaging app Remind, according to the firm's website.
The San Francisco-based venture capital firm said it is also an investor in Indian K-12 educational app developer BYJU, which is also the world's highest-valued private edtech company. BYJU became a decacorn — a label used for companies worth $10 billion or more — after a financing round this summer, according to a June announcement on Owl Ventures' site.
With more than $1.2 billion in assets under management, Owl Ventures said its limited partners that have influenced the growth of its portfolio companies include higher education endowments, foundations, strategic education institutions, sovereign wealth funds in the U.S., Asia, Europe, the Middle East and South America.
Owl Ventures managing director Amit Patel said in the same statement that the firm and its limited partners "seek to partner with visionary entrepreneurs who are tackling large problems in education as well as training and help them build transformative category-leading companies."
Digital education platforms have been involved in a handful of deals during the summer as educational institutions considered alternative methods of teaching students during a pandemic. In May, ApplyBoard, an online platform to help international students apply to schools abroad, reached a CA$2 billion valuation (about $1.53 billion) after a $71 million funding round. And at the of end July, Brazilian online education solutions provider Vasta Platform raised nearly $353 million in an initial public offering.
A representative for Owl Ventures did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The Cooley team advising Owl Ventures is led by Jordan Silber and Elizabeth Reese.
--Additional reporting by Elise Hansen. Editing by Stephen Berg.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
