SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--South Africa-based Naspers, a $65B global internet and entertainment group with operations in more than 130 countries, today announced its first investment targeting the Education Technology (EdTech) market. Through its Naspers Ventures division, the company led a $15M Series B investment in social learning network, Brainly.
“Naspers is consistently looking to invest in the leaders in markets that have global scale and the potential to be transformed by technology. The sizeable education market is a perfect fit,” said Bob van Dijk, CEO of Naspers. “Improving education delivery is a huge focus in every region around the globe, and Brainly has identified a way that technology can help drive educational impact beyond the traditional classroom model. What is more, they have already proven their business works across geographies and we aim to accelerate their growth and impact worldwide.”
“Over 60 million students in 35 countries interact with Brainly every month,” said Michal Borkowski, CEO of Brainly. “We are convinced that our partnership with Naspers will allow us to accelerate this exciting growth globally, and double down on our focus in the United States."
EdTech Focus
“Naspers Ventures’ remit is to find investment opportunities for Naspers beyond our traditional markets/segments but that are a strategic fit for the company,” said Naspers Ventures CEO Larry Illg. “We are looking for companies and leaders with high potential and the ambition to have significant global impact. Education is a sizeable market that has not yet seen the technology impacts we have seen in other sectors, but we are now seeing dramatic innovations appearing. That makes EdTech a perfect fit for Naspers Ventures.”
Naspers is one of the largest technology investors globally and has helped build and grow some of the world’s most successful internet companies. The operating and investment strategy is to back innovative companies where there is high potential to create value over time. Finding new segments and markets such as EdTech with significant global potential will continue the company’s growth.
U.S. Presence
Naspers is looking to the U.S. market as an additional source for innovative platforms with global growth potential, given its prime track record for technology innovation. Many early technology companies that are starting up in North America have potential far beyond the U.S. and Naspers can accelerate the path from innovator to global leader. The investment in Brainly showcases this strategy. Naspers’ presence in San Francisco brings it closer to tomorrow’s global leaders.
As an investor and operator, the company provides its founders and companies with unmatched levels of support internationally, including strong business strategy expertise, operating experience and access to on-the-ground resources in key expansion markets.
About Naspers Ventures
Naspers Ventures partners with entrepreneurs to build leading technology companies in high-growth markets. We identify companies and founders with high-potential and the ambition to scale globally the right way, quickly impacting the communities where they operate and provide them with tailored support that enables them to be leaders in their chosen markets.
Naspers Ventures leverages the global reach, knowledge and resources of Naspers, one of the largest technology investors in the world, to enable an environment that helps entrepreneurs build, grow and scale their businesses. With in-depth experience in more than 130 markets and countries around the world, the Naspers Ventures team thrives on the unconventional and unprecedented to do what it takes to help our companies succeed.
For more information, please visit www.naspers.com/ventures
About Naspers
Founded in 1915, Naspers is a global internet and entertainment group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Operating in more than 130 countries and markets with long-term growth potential, Naspers builds leading companies that empower people and enrich communities. It runs some of the world’s leading platforms in internet, video entertainment, and media.
Naspers companies connect people to each other and the wider world, help people improve their daily lives, and entertain audiences with the best of local and global content. Every day, hundreds of millions of people use the products and services of companies that Naspers has invested in, acquired and built, including Allegro, Avito, eMAG, Flipkart, letgo, Mail.Ru (LSE: MAIL), Movile, MultiChoice, OLX, PayU, ShowMax, SimilarWeb, and Tencent (SEHK 00700).
Naspers is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (NPN.SJ) and has an ADR listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:NPSN).
For more information, please visit www.naspers.com.