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☆ French Farmers Block Highways Around Paris as Protest Reach Capital
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Jan. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, France (Reuters) - Farmers blocked one of France's main motorways liking Paris with the northern city of Lille, the Benelux and Britain on Friday, causing kilometres of traffic jams, the first major traffic disruption caused by the protest movement in the French capital. The roadblock on the A1 north of Paris lead to traffic jams of around 4 km (2.5 miles) in the morning, according to the transport ministry's online service Bison Fute. French media reported farmers had also set up first roadblocks on traffic axes in the Essonne department south of Paris in the early morning hours, while most protests were expected to start in the early afternoon. The government said it would announce first immediate measures aimed at taming the farmer outrage later on Friday with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal expected to speak in the afternoon. So far, the government has not specified when and where Attal is due to speak or what measures could be announced.

Persons: Gabriel Attal, Yves Herman, Tassilo Hummel, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Farmers Locations: PARIS, France, Paris, Lille, Benelux, Britain, Essonne

☆ SchoolMint cuts 14.5% of staff in a second round of layoffs this year, as the forecast for edtech startups looks uncertain
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The edtech startup SchoolMint, which helps public schools and charter schools increase and manage student enrollment, cut 29 full-time staff members last week, or 14.5% of staff, Insider has learned. According to multiple sources familiar with the layoffs, this was not the first time this year SchoolMint has eliminated head count. Before these cuts, there were over 250 employees at SchoolMint, according to sources and LinkedIn data. The layoffs at SchoolMint come at an uncertain time for the edtech market, as the sector's pandemic-induced capital boom has seen an increasing slowdown. SchoolMint itself has not been immune to this uncertainty in the broader edtech market.

Persons: SchoolMint, It's Organizations: NewSchools Venture Fund, Reach, Investment Partners Locations: SchoolMint, Silicon Valley, Lafayette , Louisiana

☆ Curipod helps teachers make interactive lessons using generative AI. Check out the pitch deck it used to raise $4.6 million in seed funding.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"Instead, I wanted this interactive lesson tool where students can express themselves and have agency — the opposite of this lecture model." With Curipod, teachers can create lessons on any school subject using generative AI, first by inputting the subject of the lesson, the grade level, and any additional learning objectives. Curipod is free for teachers and students to use at the moment, with paid tiers for school districts, said Seip. The team only launched its AI product at the beginning of this year, and had not previously sought venture capital funding. Check out the nine-slide pitch deck that Curipod used to raise $4.6 million in seed funding.

Persons: Jens Aarre Seip, Seip, Eirik Hernes Berre, Frikk Fossan, Curipod, GPT3 Organizations: Norwegian School of Economics, Reach, aha, Emerson, Sondo, Edovate Locations: Norway

☆ The 25 most promising education-tech startups of 2023, according to top VCs
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Aprende InstituteEsteban Sosnik, a cofounder and partner at Reach Capital. Reach CapitalRecommended by: Esteban Sosnik, Reach CapitalRelationship: InvestorTotal funding: $27.2 million, according to the companyWhat it does: Aprende Institute offers vocational training for the US Hispanic community. Why it's on the list: While there are several prominent trade and upskilling startups, not all of them offer instruction in Spanish. Aprende Institute offers career training catering to the US Hispanic community, operating "in support of their economic empowerment," said Sosnik. Aprende Institute last raised $22 million in Series A funding in the fall of 2021, led by Valor Capital Group.

Persons: Esteban Sosnik Organizations: Aprende, Reach, Aprende Institute, Valor Capital

☆ Hurricane Idalia Approaches Florida, Could Be ‘Extremely Dangerous’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

AI in Education Attracts Startups and CashIf generative artificial intelligence is going to upend learning, then startups and investors want to be part of it. Varun Gulati, CEO of LitLab, describes how his company’s AI tool can make learning to read more personal. And Reach Capital’s Jennifer Carolan explains why the generative AI boom is different from edtech investment trends of the past. This is part three of our series Reading, Writing, and Algorithms. Click the links to listen to episode 1 and episode 2.

Persons: Varun Gulati, Jennifer Carolan, Amogh Alva Vaz Organizations: Education

☆ Idalia Remains on Florida Path, Could Be ‘Extremely Dangerous’
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-29 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Persons: Varun Gulati, Jennifer Carolan, Amogh Alva Vaz Organizations: Education

☆ How Preply became one of the largest online language learning startups in the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He started to see the potential for online language tutoring as a viable business model, since online lessons were cheaper than in-person lessons and class schedules were more flexible. In the summer of 2012, Bigai, Voloshyn and Lukyanov founded the online language learning startup Preply. Last month, Preply raised a $70 million Series C extension round with a combination of debt and equity led by Horizon Capital. Reach Capital, Hoxton Ventures and Owl Ventures, which led its previous $50 million Series C in 2022, also participated. The company's successful fundraising comes after a difficult year personally for the Preply team.

Persons: Preply, Kirill Bigai, Dmytro Voloshyn, Sergey Lukyanov, Bigai, Lukyanov, James Kim Organizations: Preply, Horizon Capital, Morning, Skype, Horizon, Reach, Hoxton Ventures, Owl Ventures, Datadog, Bain, Reach Capital Locations: Ukraine, Boston, Texas, Barcelona, Kyiv, Berlin, Czech, Russia

☆ Ukrainian-founded Duolingo rival Preply banks $70 million to push into A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Preply, a language learning platform connecting people with tutors, raised $70 million of fresh capital to ramp up its use of artificial intelligence, the company told CNBC exclusively. The equity portion was led by Horizon Capital, a venture capital firm focused on investing in emerging entrepreneurs, particularly Ukrainians. The funding adds to a $50 million Series C funding round Preply raised last year, and takes its total funding raised to over $170 million. It comes as Duolingo, a competitor to Preply, has been incorporating OpenAI's GPT language processing software to enhance its app's personalization to users. Horizon Capital raised $125 million for a startup fund aimed at backing Ukrainian founders.

Persons: Kirill Bigai, Dmytro Voloshyn, Serge Lukianov, Preply, Preply's, Max Lytvyn, Alex Shevchenko, Dmitriy Zaporozhets Organizations: CNBC, Horizon Capital, Reach Capital, Hoxton Ventures, Bain, Horizon, Google, Samsung, Amazon Locations: Ukraine, U.S, GroupM, Ukrainian, Preply, Russia, Moscow

☆ Edtech startup VC funding has slowed to a crawl. The number of deals done so far this year has dropped more than 50% year-over-year.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The number of new funding deals so far this year is less than last year's Q1 total. The trend is in line with the larger VC funding slowdown in 2023, with the exception of AI deals. That's more than a 50% drop in the number of deals and total deal value from Q1 2022, which had 161 edtech venture deals totaling about $1.3 billion. Reach Capital recently raised a $215 million fund to fund both early and later stage edtech startups. Amid dismal funding for startups this year, the one bright spot has been for AI startups with some generative AI startups raising rounds well over $100 million.

Persons: That's, Katelyn Donnelly, Andressen Horowitz, Kira, Avalanche's Donnelly, there's, Donnelly, Sosnik Organizations: edtech, Reach Locations: edtech

☆ We got an exclusive look at the pitch deck that math education startup Innovamat used to raise $21 million in new funding
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Innovamat is a Barcelona-based edtech startup that uses a new way of teaching math to K-8 students. Now, the team has raised $21 million in Series A funding and will expand into the US. The idea for Innovamat, a startup focused on developing a new way to teach math to K-8 students, came to the company's cofounders when they were students themselves. In 2015, Dotti and Piedra spent their free time working as engineering and math teachers at their university's neighboring academy, which helps first year students study and pass important qualifying exams. Check out the 13-slide pitch deck that Innovamat used to raise $21 million in Series A funding:

☆ Edtech venture capital firm Reach Capital raises $215 million for its largest fund ever and has its sights set on backing more generative AI startups
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Reach Capital has closed its fourth fund with $215 million to invest in education startups. The team is also looking to back more companies using generative AI in education, Reach Capital founding partner Esteban Sosnik told Insider. Near the end of 2022, edtech investing had just reached $8.89 billion in 2022, according to PitchBook. While generalist investors still have some interest in edtech deals, some of the hype has worn off. Reach has also backed several edtech startups that went on to become unicorns, or reach a valuation of over $1 billion, including Outschool, ClassDojo, and Handshake.

☆ Incoming Petrobras CEO Prates rules out fuel price interventions
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 4 (Reuters) - The incoming chief executive of Brazil's oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) said on Wednesday there will be no interventions in fuel prices, and shares of the state-run firm rose. Jean Paul Prates, handpicked by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to lead the company, told journalists he does not intend to unlink Petrobras' fuel prices from those of international markets, but "will unlink them from import parity." Without forcing, without imposing a tariff, with absolutely no direct intervention in the market," Prates explained. His remarks, which echoed comments he made after his appointment as CEO, boosted Petrobras' share price, said Reach Capital's investment head, Ricardo Campos. Reporting by Marta Nogueira and Paula Arend Laier; Writing by Peter Frontini; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ VCs say AI in the classroom and tech meant to help students who've fallen behind will be among the top edtech trends in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

In fact, annual venture-capital funding to edtech startups has more than tripled since 2019, according to PitchBook data. That increased nearly threefold in 2020, to $14.1 billion, and then reached a record total in 2021 with $16.8 billion, PitchBook found. PitchBook estimates that edtech funding in 2022 stood at $8.4 billion as of December 15, as schools reopening led to less need for virtual teaching tools. Edtech startups across all sectors tend to be countercyclical compared with the economy at large, according to Amit Patel, a managing director at Owl Ventures. Here are the top four edtech trends to watch in 2023, according to top edtech investors.

[1/2] Brazil's former President and presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Sao Paulo Governor candidate Fernando Haddad react at an election night gathering on the day of the Brazilian presidential election run-off, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 30, 2022. Defeated President Jair Bolsonaro had not made public remarks more than 17 hours after the race was called. Some of his key allies have recognized publicly that Lula had won the race, easing concerns of contested election results. "There will be no transition problem, even if Bolsonaro reacts badly, most of his allies have already recognized Lula's victory". Francisco Levy, chief strategist at Empiricus Investimentos, said a favorable international reaction to Lula may help markets on the short term.

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