Ed-tech firm Vivi raises $26.5 million to expand overseas

Australian-based education platform Vivi has raised $26.5 million (US$20 million) with US investors Quad Partners as it looks to accelerate its overseas expansion.

The company already has a presence in the US where its team has recently grown from just two members to 18.

But Vivi CEO Natalie Mactier said now was the perfect time to leverage capital and gain more ground in international markets.

“Because of the important position we hold in the classroom, the future has always looked bright at Vivi,” she said.

“But right now, we are moving quickly to take advantage of some significant tailwinds, particularly in the US.

“With a rapidly increasing focus on technology enablement at schools, the highest ratio of 1:1 student devices ever, and increasing awareness of the instructional and administrative benefits of screen mirroring, we are thrilled to be able to get Vivi into the hands of more students, educators, and administrators quickly.”

Vivi sells a suite of tools for teachers and students to easily control and shares screens within classroom settings.

It claims to already be in use within 40,000 classrooms in 12 countries around the world.

The company’s Founder and Executive Chairman Dr. Lior Rauchberger said he has big hopes for Vivi’s latest push to have its software in the hands of more students and teachers.

“Vivi has created demand overseas in a way that’s pretty unique – and largely by word of mouth,” Dr Rauchberger said.

“The company has evolved from a point solution into a comprehensive student engagement platform that has proven to be incredibly sticky.

“Our next big goal is to be in a million classrooms as soon as possible and partnering with Quad will certainly speed that up.”

The $26.5 million capital raise will go toward hiring additional sales teams within Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

It will also help pay for upcoming development costs and an operational infrastructure project led by a new US-based CFO.

Quad Partners Principal Connor O’Keefe said the investment firm was “thrilled” to be partnering with Vivi.

”Vivi uniquely sits at the intersection of a number of accelerating tailwinds supporting technology usage in education,” he said.

“Their tireless efforts around optimizing the user experience for students, teachers, and administrators in a more tech-enabled world has really set them apart from their peers.”