SAN FRANCISCO, July 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Minerva Project, a
leading educational innovator and global provider of top-tier
educational offerings, today announced the close of its Series C
round, raising US $57 million in new
financing, bringing Minerva's total capital raised to date in
excess of US $128 million. The round
was led by Bytedance, one of the fastest growing technology
companies, with participation from existing global investors TAL
Education Group (NYSE: TAL), a leading K-12 after school tutoring
education services provider, and Yongjin Group, a holding company
and private equity investor in various industries. Additional
investors in the round include Pinpoint Ventures, Kakao Ventures,
Tan Tan Ventures, Lighthouse Combined from Korea as well as a
select number of other new and existing investors. Minerva will use
the capital to accelerate access to its unparalleled learning
experiences through partnerships with universities and
corporations.
Along with the announcement of the Series C funding, Minerva
welcomes two new Board Members. Zhang
Yiming, Founder and CEO of Bytedance, joins the Minerva
board and brings insight around technology and education.
Wendy Kopp, Founder and CEO of Teach
for All and Founder of Teach For America, joins as a board member
bringing her decades of experience running a global network of
independent nonprofit organizations working to expand educational
opportunities in countries around the world.
"Minerva's model for higher education is attracting interest
from leading institutions and organizations who want to use the
Intellectual property we have developed including our curriculum,
pedagogy, technology platform, and faculty training," said
Ben Nelson, founder, Chairman and
CEO of Minerva Project. "Our Series C funding will allow us to see
improved educational outcomes for students beyond those at Minerva
Schools, as we fuel the growth of these partnerships to fulfill
Minerva's mission of nurturing critical wisdom for the sake of the
world."
"We are excited and impressed by Minerva's innovative approach
to educating the next generation of talent," said Zhang Yiming, CEO at ByteDance.
Founded in 2012, the Minerva Project has built an educational
system that includes a scaffolded curriculum that equips students
with the cognitive tools and core competencies critical to success
across disciplines and proven pedagogical practices, enhanced by a
proprietary active learning technology. Minerva's methodology is
based on depth of research on the science of learning. Minerva's
Forum has been built specifically to facilitate interaction via
live video, enabling professors to conduct highly intensive and
engaged classroom experiences for students and use tools to provide
timely and relevant feedback, ensuring progress against student
learning outcomes.
"I'm honored to be joining the Board of Minerva, which has so
much promise to be a powerful partner to institutions of higher
education in fostering innovation and increasing effectiveness,"
shared Wendy Kopp, CEO &
Co-foundation of Teach For All and Founder of Teach For
America.
More details about Minerva's approach are described in
"Building the Intentional University: Minerva and the Future of
Higher Education," a book published in Fall 2017 by MIT
Press.
About Minerva Project
Minerva Project is a leading
educational innovator, providing top-tier higher education
offerings to the Minerva Schools at KGI and other educational
partners. Minerva draws on the best traditions of a research-based
university education while leveraging cutting-edge technologies and
harvesting decades of research on student learning and success.
Minerva is committed to providing an unparalleled educational
experience for preparing global leaders for the 21st century.
Minerva was founded by CEO Ben
Nelson in 2012, received an initial investment from
Benchmark Capital the same year, and a Series B investment from
educational, technology and innovation investors including TAL
(NYSE: TAL), Benchmark Capital, Yongjin Group, Learn Capital,
and ZhenFund in 2014. www.minervaproject.com
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SOURCE Minerva Project