CPE News (2/4/2021) – Showbie Inc. has raised additional $7.5 million in Series A equity and debt funding, bringing total proceeds for this round to $12.5 million.
This financing was an extension of Showbie’s Series A announced in August led by Rhino Ventures with participation of Point Nine Capital, Azure Capital, and several other Canadian and international investors. ATB Private Equity, along with participation from existing investors , participated in the extension financing.
Showbie investors also include Kymbask Investments Inc., Yaletown Partners, Fresco Capital, and Imagine K12.
Founded in 2012 by Colin Bramm and Roy Pombeiro, Edmonton, Alberta based Showbie Inc., a software platform that helps educators transform their classrooms into engaging and collaborative virtual learning environments.
With the new funding, Showbie is now looking to grow its team, which has more than doubled since the beginning of last year, to continue executing on their ambitious growth plan and product roadmap.
photo credit: Showbie
News Release
Hybrid Learning Platform, Showbie, Raises $12.5M Series A to Help Students Achieve Academic Success
Showbie Inc., a software platform that helps educators transform their classrooms into engaging and collaborative virtual learning environments, has closed an additional $7.5 million in Series A financing, bringing total proceeds for this round to $12.5 million.
This financing was an extension of their Series A announced in August led by Rhino Ventures and saw new participation from ATB Private Equity, along with participation from existing investors and debt financing.
Used by teachers, schools, and school districts in more than 135 countries, Showbie provides teachers with a vast suite of easy-to-use tools that help educators increase student engagement, deliver personalized learning strategies, and quickly identify and address knowledge gaps, to help students achieve academic success.
“We are very excited to have Rhino Ventures and ATB Private Equity partner with us to accelerate our company’s growth plans” said Colin Bramm, CEO and Co-founder of Showbie.
“This Series A funding will be used to expand our sales and marketing efforts, as well as helping us expedite new feature development including launching a new app in the Google Play (Android) Store and improving administrator-focused features and reporting . We’re looking
forward to helping schools and school districts increase student engagement, offer personalized learning experiences, and improve learning outcomes.”
“Showbie’s pursuit of improving remote and hybrid learning experience for students and teachers around the world aligns well with our core values. We are excited to invest and support this Alberta based company that is making a positive difference in people’s lives on a daily basis with continued expansion of features and products that leverage latest technologies.” Jan Cerny, ATB Private Equity Managing Director
In addition to student achievement, Showbie also helps improve teacher workload – saving educators time and hassle by allowing for faster, easier grading and assessment. On a larger scale, schools and districts that deploy Showbie gain significant operational efficiencies and cost savings.
After the summer break, students and teachers around the world returned to the classroom. While some classrooms were in person, others were fully remote or even a hybrid of the two. No matter the classroom setup, Showbie helped ensure learning and workflow continuity for both teachers and students, experiencing a 251% YoY increase in usage of their platform.
“The holy grail for edtech is the ability to quantify its impact on student outcomes. Showbie’s place as the core operating system for both educators and students positions them to own the knowledge graph of student performance; a position that will drive student success. We’re thrilled to help Showbie secure this additional funding and new debt facility as it is a testament to the strength, dedication, and expertise of the Showbie team, as well as to the best-in-class platform they’ve built, and will help accelerate their already rapid growth” Jay Rhind, Rhino Partner
Knowing that millions of users consider their platform to be mission critical, Showbie has been focused on developing highly requested distance learning features, such as GDPR compliant video chat functionality, to help teachers securely continue their lessons or office hours online.
Showbie also launched a new tier of service, Showbie Pro+, that bundles and integrates Showbie with other popular edtech applications including Socrative, Explain Everything, Educreations, Hologo, and Kodable. Pro+ helps schools and districts save money while providing teachers a breadth of tools that help students learn more effectively. To help educators gain a deeper understanding of the Showbie platform and how it can help them address student learning challenges, Showbie launched their first Professional Development program , the “ Showbie Certified Educator ” course in the fall of this year, with plans to develop additional programming in 2021.
Showbie is now looking to grow their team, which has more than doubled since the beginning of last year, to continue executing on their ambitious growth plan and product roadmap. They currently have career openings in sales, marketing, and engineering , both in Edmonton, AB, and Toronto, ON.
About Showbie:
Showbie was founded in 2012 with the release of its cloud-based assessment and feedback application. In 2018, Showbie acquired Socrative as a companion application for online quizzing and testing. Showbie is based in Edmonton, Canada, and has over 3 million educators registered for its products in nearly every country around the globe.
About ATB Private Equity
ATB Private Equity is dedicated to providing minority interest equity to Alberta headquartered businesses. To date, ATB Private Equity has invested in a number of companies across a variety of industries. Heading the fund is well-respected corporate advisor and financier, Terry Freeman, and Managing Director, Jan Cerny. For more information, please visit: https://www.atb.com/commercial/solutions/private-equity/
About Rhino Ventures
Rhino Ventures leads early-stage financings for high-growth technology startups in Western Canada. Across two funds, they’ve invested in several iconic Canadian companies including Article, Thinkific, FISPAN, and Klue, and continue to invest in top-performing teams tackling massive challenges. Rhino Ventures is led by partners Fraser Hall and Jay Rhind and is based in Vancouver, BC. For more information, please visit: https://www.rhinovc.com/