ATOM LEARNING RAISES $25M IN LARGEST EVER UK EDTECH SERIES A ROUND

SoftBank Vision Fund 2 leads the Series A funding round

Investment will allow the adaptive learning platform to accelerate growth in the UK and recruit more technology and education specialists to the company

Having launched in 2018, Atom Learning is now used by 500 primary schools and 100,000 students across the UK

DEC 9th, 2021 – London, UK: Atom Learning, the fast-growth adaptive learning edtech platform, announces that it has raised $25m in a Series A round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

SoftBank Vision Fund 2 will become the only private investor in Atom Learning, which since launching in 2018 has grown without external funding and is already profitable.

This funding round is the largest Series A round ever secured by a British edtech startup.

The company is increasing standards across the education ecosystem by improving teachers’ workloads, enhancing children’s experience at school and equipping parents with a high-quality home learning platform. By engaging both in school and the home, Atom Learning is reducing inequality in education experience for families across the country.

Atom Learning, which is based in London, has developed two products for teachers and parents of children between the ages 7 and 11.

Atom Prime is free of charge and used by teachers in more than 500 primary schools. The product helps save teachers time by providing large banks of questions that can be turned into lesson plans or homework quickly and allows teachers to manage mixed ability classes via adaptive learning.

Parents of children between the age of 7 and 11 spend around £1bn annually on private tuition, which is unregulated, expensive and inconsistent. Atom Nucleus is a fully automated, affordable alternative to private tuition for which parents pay a monthly subscription. Teachers have access to the home learning product so they can monitor students’ performance.

Atom Learning has grown into a team of 100 education and technology professionals. The team is staffed by former teachers and educationalists who create the online curriculum and ensure content is engaging and fun for students.

Atom’s platform balances the need to compete for attention with the mobile and games applications that 7 to 11 year olds use, with the importance of maintaining academic rigour. As a result, the product is highly interactive, built around world-class adaptive learning technology. This uses advanced AI technology to predict the probability a student has of answering a question correctly which allows teachers and parents to structure lessons in a format where every topic and question is challenging, but never demotivating, for children.

The investment will be used by Atom Learning to realise its ambition to be in every single primary school in the UK. The company plans to double headcount over the next 12 months, bringing on board more teachers and technology professionals to its London office, which operates as a fully remote and flexible team. Atom Learning will also expand into the US in 2022.

Jake O’Keefe, co-founder of Atom Learning, comments,

“We are delighted to partner with SoftBank as we scale in the UK and internationally. They’re a natural partner due to their ambition and their commitment to edtech in Europe and globally. Our mission is to provide all children wherever they are and whatever their background with an affordable, high-quality education. We are doing this by combining exceptional teacher-made content with industry defining technology. This investment will allow us to bring the very best people to the UK’s fastest growing edtech company.”

“The utilisation of edtech and adaptive learning within established curricula has accelerated rapidly both in school and the home”, said Yanni Pipilis, Managing Partner for SoftBank Investment Advisers. “Atom’s proprietary technology enables each child to progress at their optimal learning pace, and provides parents and teachers with real-time feedback on areas of strength and development. We’re excited to partner with the team in its vision to improve learning outcomes for every student.”

Henry Whorwood, Head of Research and Consultancy at Beauhurst, comments,

“Atom Learning’s Series A funding round has confirmed that 2021 will be a record year for investment in edtech in the UK. This is the largest edtech raise in the UK this year, and the largest Series A edtech funding round on record in this country. Atom Learning joins Multiverse and Kano in using technology to improve education in the UK.”

ENDS

Media Contact

Eloise Keightley

Seven Hills

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About Atom Learning 

Atom Learning is an online learning platform for primary school children that combines high quality content with sophisticated adaptive technology. Since launching in 2018, Atom Learning is now used by over 500 primary schools and 100,000 students across the UK.

Atom Learning provides two products for teachers and parents. Atom Prime is free of charge and allows teachers to develop lesson plans and manage mixed ability classes through adaptive learning. Atom Nucleus is a fully automated alternative to private tuition that parents can access for their children through a monthly subscription. 

The company is based in London and has a team of 100 technology specialists and former educationalists. Atom Learning is recognised as one of the fastest growing edtech companies in the UK and has raised the largest edtech Series A funding round ever secured in the UK.

www.atomlearning.co.uk/