VC Fundraising
Edtech powerhouse Owl Ventures steps up ambitions with $1B in new funds
January 12, 2022
As the business of education increasingly moves online, investors are flocking to an ever-growing market opportunity.
At the forefront of that movement is Owl Ventures, a venture capital firm specializing in education technology that has just closed over $1 billion across multiple funds.
The Silicon Valley-based firm has raised $640 million for its fifth fund and $270 million for a second opportunities fund, along with more than $100 million in special purpose vehicles.
The additional firepower comes just 16 months after Owl closed its previous set of funds at a total of $585 million.
Owl's previous bets on a series of fast-growing startups in the edtech industry likely worked in its favor when asking LPs to boost its funding capacity.
Owl has invested in startups including Byju's, the world's most valuable edtech company, MasterClass and Quizlet, a tutoring platform reportedly planning an IPO.
The firm is led by managing directors Ian Chiu, Tom Costin, Amit Patel and Tory Patterson alongside partners Malvika Bhagwat and Kate Chhabra.
"The whole sector has been undergoing a dramatic transformation," Chiu said. "Some of the companies that we had invested in [in] the last 14 or 15 months have already doubled or tripled their bookings or revenues."
Owl also backs startups at the intersection of education and other industries such as fintech and healthcare. For these investments, the firm's partners believe that Owl's education expertise helps to differentiate it from other investors.
One of its portfolio companies is Greenlight, a debit card for kids that is also intended to teach financial literacy. Others include Hazel Health, a telemedicine platform for K-12 schools, and Mighty Networks, which helps creators design online courses.
Owl's recent exits include Codecademy, which agreed to be sold for $525 million to SkillSoft, and Securly's acquisition by Golden Gate Capital for $231 million, according to PitchBook data.
In 2021, global investors poured $16.2 billion into edtech startups, surpassing the sector's venture funding for 2020, according to PitchBook data.
And Owl is betting that edtech is only going to keep growing.
"Education is the second-largest industry in the world today, behind healthcare, but only 2% to 3% of that is being spent digitally right now," Patel said. "The world's most valuable companies are eventually going to be in education technology."
Featured image by photopsist/Getty Images
At the forefront of that movement is Owl Ventures, a venture capital firm specializing in education technology that has just closed over $1 billion across multiple funds.
The Silicon Valley-based firm has raised $640 million for its fifth fund and $270 million for a second opportunities fund, along with more than $100 million in special purpose vehicles.
The additional firepower comes just 16 months after Owl closed its previous set of funds at a total of $585 million.
Owl's previous bets on a series of fast-growing startups in the edtech industry likely worked in its favor when asking LPs to boost its funding capacity.
Owl has invested in startups including Byju's, the world's most valuable edtech company, MasterClass and Quizlet, a tutoring platform reportedly planning an IPO.
The firm is led by managing directors Ian Chiu, Tom Costin, Amit Patel and Tory Patterson alongside partners Malvika Bhagwat and Kate Chhabra.
"The whole sector has been undergoing a dramatic transformation," Chiu said. "Some of the companies that we had invested in [in] the last 14 or 15 months have already doubled or tripled their bookings or revenues."
Owl also backs startups at the intersection of education and other industries such as fintech and healthcare. For these investments, the firm's partners believe that Owl's education expertise helps to differentiate it from other investors.
One of its portfolio companies is Greenlight, a debit card for kids that is also intended to teach financial literacy. Others include Hazel Health, a telemedicine platform for K-12 schools, and Mighty Networks, which helps creators design online courses.
Owl's recent exits include Codecademy, which agreed to be sold for $525 million to SkillSoft, and Securly's acquisition by Golden Gate Capital for $231 million, according to PitchBook data.
In 2021, global investors poured $16.2 billion into edtech startups, surpassing the sector's venture funding for 2020, according to PitchBook data.
And Owl is betting that edtech is only going to keep growing.
"Education is the second-largest industry in the world today, behind healthcare, but only 2% to 3% of that is being spent digitally right now," Patel said. "The world's most valuable companies are eventually going to be in education technology."
Featured image by photopsist/Getty Images
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