Studeo secures £960k Pre-Seed investment from investors including Jenson Funding Partners and Sequoia

Tuesday 24th May 2022 – Studeo, the tutoring app developed in line with students adapting to remote learning during the pandemic, has received a $1.2m investment from both sides of the Atlantic. The company secured the capital from investors including UK startup investor Jenson Funding Partners and US VC firm Sequoia.

Traditional tutoring presents an accessibility gap – both in terms of high cost barriers and physically locating private tuition. This makes extra studies out of reach for lower income households. 

Leveraging the familiarity pupils now have with remote learning, Studeo recreates the tutoring experience in an affordable, digital format that’s accessible at any time. Users can choose a tutor based on their credentials, which are given within the platform. 

And while some studies have noted a disconnect with home learners, with just 34% of UK students claiming they felt motivated to learn remotely, Studeo has factored this into its offering. To improve engagement among students, the platform has summarised subjects into short videos (up to five minutes long). Each lesson also comes with in-video exercises and questioning included.

The company currently focuses on maths but plans to use the investment to support expansion into sciences, with physics, biology, chemistry and computer science all in the pipeline. Studeo intends to go beyond its current UK and France markets as the product develops to meet the needs of its growing user base, and has set its sights on emerging markets.

Nicolas Levandowsky, Studeo founder and CEO, says: “There’s a serious gap in the quality of education that is available to students. Tutoring costs between £50 and £150 per session, so a huge portion of the population simply can’t afford tutors in the traditional format. This is why we’ve created an affordable model with a digital design. Having the full support of Jenson, and now joining the Sequoia accelerator, we’re excited about the road ahead.”

Jeffrey Faustin, CIO and partner at Jenson Funding Partners, adds: “We’ve seen an incredible amount of innovation take place in direct response to the pandemic, especially where education is concerned. We’re proud to get behind Nicolas, Antonin and the Studeo team as they set out to democratise tutoring and make a positive societal impact.”

ENDS

About Jenson Funding Partners LLP

Jenson Funding Partners is the approachable startup investment firm specialising in working with founders throughout their early-stage growth – from pre-seed to Series A. Its diverse and experienced team understands what a business needs at each stage and combines quickly deployed capital with hands-on support to successfully scale the companies in their portfolio and deliver returns for investors. Jenson Funding Partners have launched five SEIS and four EIS Funds.

We are now on our 13th tranche and have invested more than £18.5 million in over 110 entrepreneurial UK businesses which have typically launched their product or service and are typically close to or post-revenue. In addition, we have supported 25 follow-on funding rounds, all at a premium to initial launch cost based on external valuations. Jenson Funding Partners LLP is the Fund Manager of the Jenson SEIS and EIS Funds and is authorised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) and its FCA registration number is 820516.

About Studeo

Barriers to access in education are at an all-time high. A teacher shortage, particularly in maths and science, plagues schools around the world, and tight government budgets make it difficult to compete for talent. While families with means can opt for private schools, move to neighbourhoods with the best state-run schools, or pay for expensive elite tutoring, those are options 99% of the population simply can’t afford. By combining top instructors and proven learning methods in a digital platform, Studeo co-founders Nicolas Levandowsky and Antonin De Laever and their team are making it possible for more students to learn from the best.

Pevini Peiris

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