Edmodo Raises New Round of Venture Capital Financing; Reid Hoffman, Matt Cohler Join Board

Secure Network for K12 Education Raises $15 Million to Expand Reach of Free Service

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Edmodo, the free and secure network for teachers and students in K12 schools, announced the completion of a new round of venture capital financing led by Greylock Partners and Benchmark Capital. In conjunction with the $15 million Series B investment, Greylock Managing Partner and LinkedIn Founder & Chairman Reid Hoffman has joined the Edmodo Board along with Matt Cohler, General Partner of Benchmark Capital and former VP of Product Management at Facebook, where he was one of the first seven employees. Edmodo’s existing investors include Union Square Ventures and Learn Capital.

“At Benchmark, we invest in great teams whose companies are achieving extraordinary impact, and we're very enthusiastic about Edmodo's long-term success and vision.”

“It’s an honor to welcome Reid Hoffman and Matt Cohler to the Edmodo team,” said Nic Borg, Edmodo’s co-founder and CEO. “The insights they’ve gleaned building the two largest networked communities in the world will help accelerate our mission of building a network uniquely suited to the needs and possibilities of K12 educators everywhere. This financing also cements our bedrock principle that Edmodo will always be free to use.”

Reid Hoffman said, “Both Matt and I have seen networks grow spectacularly once they hit their tipping point. It’s clear to us that Edmodo is well on its way to becoming one of the key networks in our lives. Just as LinkedIn is the professional graph for work and Facebook is the social graph for your friends, Edmodo is the educational graph for learning. The graph provides the platform for teachers to bring selections of the web to the classroom. Teachers all over the world are using Edmodo to share best practices and great educational content. They are tapping into the network to expand their impact with students, fellow educators and parents. Edmodo is the third social graph network that Greylock has invested in, after LinkedIn and Facebook.”

“Edmodo has a remarkably easy-to-learn interface powering content sharing, collaboration and assignments securely across all types of devices, so it’s no surprise to Reid and me that it’s become the classroom engine for nearly 5 million registered teachers and students,” commented Matt Cohler of Benchmark. “At Benchmark, we invest in great teams whose companies are achieving extraordinary impact, and we're very enthusiastic about Edmodo's long-term success and vision.”

About Edmodo:

Edmodo is a free service that allows teachers to create and maintain their own safe and secure classroom communities across every type of PC and wireless device. Edmodo is used to share educational content, manage projects and assignments, handle notifications, conduct quizzes and events, and facilitate highly engaging learning experiences among students in classes and colleagues in professional learning networks. Schools and districts can claim unique Edmodo web addresses for added communication and customization. Teachers all over the world build profile pages on Edmodo, which they use to meet and stay in contact with other educators, sharing best practices and top resources. Edmodo is headquartered in San Mateo, California. Edmodo is hiring. For a list of current openings, see www.jobs.edmodo.com.