Global consumer edtech company MyOnlineSchool, is delighted to announce new seed funding of £450,000 (approx. US$678,000) from a powerful team of new investors. This funding will accelerate production of their high-end online vocational and hobbyist courses, advance the design of their responsive virtual classrooms and websites, and increase their portfolio of schools.
MyOnlineSchool was founded by Elspeth Briscoe (eBay, Skype) and Duncan Heather (Oxford College of Garden Design). MyOnlineSchool aims to help students worldwide unlock their hidden creativity using weekly video lessons, tutorial assignments, personal feedback and 1-2-1 critiques with world-leading experts in their specialist field.
With two award winning virtual schools already live, www.my-garden-school.com and www.my-photo-school.com, MyOnlineSchool’s new funding will help further push the boundaries of innovative digital learning. The new team of specialist edtech investors dedicated to this global learning technologies initiative, are: Leaf Investments; Howzat Partners (Allstar Investor Winners and Trivago investors) and a group of angel investors with backgrounds ranging from eBay, Gumtree, Zoopla, Skype and more.
Alan Maguire, Partner at Leaf Investments, joins MyOnlineSchool as a board member. He says: ‘Leaf Investments is constantly looking for exciting, innovative and disruptive edtech businesses. MyOnlineSchool has clearly demonstrated a creative and unique approach to an enormous market opportunity and we are delighted to welcome the business to our growing portfolio.’
Stephen Warshaw, international information, education and software sectors specialist, joins MyOnlineSchool as one of the new investors. He says: ‘It is an exciting time for education technology and I am thrilled to support MyOnlineSchool. There is enormous international online potential of relatively untapped niches, where technology can transform the passion-driven hobbyist learning experience. I look forward to MyOnlineSchool’s future as they continue to develop their range of quality online schools and supply students from around the world with a growing roster of the best online courses and educators.’
For more information about MyOnlineSchool, see: https://angel.co/myonlineschool
MyPhotoSchool and MyGardenSchool went live in 2011. Students value the convenience of online learning, but need a more in-depth, interactive experience than other forms of online learning like MOOCs (MOOCs have a course completion rate of 10-20%, MyOnlineSchool has completion rates of 80-90%).
New investors to join MyOnlineSchool in 2015 are:
Howzat Partners – David Soskin is Partner and co-founder of Howzat Partners. Ex-CEO of CheapFlights.com, David was also Head of Global Media at ABN AMRO Corporate Finance and has held senior roles in industry and government. In 1995, David’s entrepreneurial achievements were honoured by the European Foundation for Entrepreneurial Research, where he was named as one of Europe’s 500 most dynamic entrepreneurs.
Stephen Warshaw – Stephen has had a long international career in the publishing/information, education and software sectors including CEO positions at MediMedia (where he co-led the LBO), Oxford University Press, Reed Elsevier plc, and Informa plc
Stephen has also held a number of Chairman roles: of Iris Software Limited; of HKI Limited, a healthcare information provider; of Espresso Education; and of TeamSystem srl, Italy’s leading professional and SME software provider. He was most recently Chairman of Cambridge Education Group Ltd, which was successfully sold in December 2013.
Leaf Investments – Leaf Investments is an early stage investor in learning technology businesses. Backed by Folens Publishers, the Leaf team combines deep learning industry expertise with investment experience. MyOnlineSchool is the 10th investment in a growing portfolio of companies located across Europe & The United States.
Angel investors include: Doug Monro (Co-Founder of Adzuna, ex-ebay, Zoopla, Gumtree); Andy McIndoe (Managing Director of Hillier Nurseries); Oliver Rivers (MBA from London Business School and Finance Director at Kamm & Sons and BRITDOC) and Tony Gill (ex-Skype and ebay).