European edtech unicorn GoStudent has acquired the U.K.’s Seneca Learning and Spain-based Tus Media Group in a move which extends its reach into areas not previously touched by the Austrian unicorn. Seneca provides algorithmic learning content while Tus Media is an open tutoring marketplace. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Both acquired companies will continue operating independently under their current leadership teams and with their established brand names. Launched in 2016, Seneca Learning did not previously take on venture capital backing, according to Crunchbase. Tus Media was also privately owned, with unspecified backing from Barcelona-based investor Redarbor.
The move comes a month after GoStudent raised €300 million in a Series D funding and follows GoStudent’s 2021 acquisition of Fox Education, an Austrian all-in-one school communication solution.
Seneca Learning is a “freemium” homework and revision platform in the U.K. with 7 million students on it. Children can choose from KS2, KS3, GCSE & A-Level courses.
European, North American edtech startups see funding triple in 2021
Felix Ohswald, CEO and co-founder of GoStudent, said: “The United Kingdom is one of GoStudent’s core regions, and we aim to become the market leader. We have listened to the needs of our customers, and adding a content platform to our core offering is an important strategic step for us, allowing us to further enrich our learning offerings and diversify our portfolio.”
Stephen Wilks, co-founder and CEO of Seneca Learning, said: “Working with Felix and the GoStudent team will allow us to bring Seneca’s free content and personalized learning experience to millions more students in different countries across the world. The team is excited to build on our success in the U.K. and take our product international to give more children access to an amazing free education.”
Founded in 2011, Tus Media offers an open marketplace for tutors serving 4 million students, with teachers in Spain, as well as several European and LATAM countries.
Albert Clemente, founder and CEO of Tus Media Group, said: “The acquisition by GoStudent gives us the thrust to further scale Tus Media with all its brands to new markets and expand to even bigger regional geographies.”
Gregor Müller, COO and co-founder of GoStudent, commented: “Albert Clemente is one of the most passionate and dedicated education entrepreneurs we have ever met. Working with him as a partner and learning from each other will allow us to get one step closer to becoming the No. 1 global school.”
David González Castro, founder and CEO of Redarbor — Tus Media’s former investor — commented: “In 2018, we acquired 20% and later 30% of participation in Tus Media. After the acquisition by GoStudent, we will leave the shareholding. I am very proud of all the success we have achieved in collaboration and value creation with Albert Clemente.”
GoStudent now has a roughly €3 billion valuation. Founded in Vienna in 2016 by Felix Ohswald (CEO) and Gregor Müller (COO), it provides paid, one-to-one, video-based tuition to primary, secondary and college-aged students using a membership model. Backed with €590 million in funding, investors include Prosus Ventures and SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
What we can learn from edtech startups’ expansion efforts in Europe
Speaking to me over a call Ohswald added: “Both of these companies are very complementary for GoStudent. Seneca has built a tremendous content company, so they created content customized for the UK school curriculum that 1000s of teachers and then millions of kids use and that is something we don’t have. We have never done content in the past. So they bring this content element that we are missing, and we want to help them scale their business in many more countries, while building some synergies.”
He added: “On the side of Tus Media, they created an awesome SEO-driven company. So all the traffic they generate on their marketplace comes via SEO with no marketing spend. That’s something we have not achieved in the past. Together with them we can learn from them and also help them to scale more quickly.”
Comment