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Edtech firm founded by London schoolboys secures 'biggest ever' £4.5m funding

Firefly Learning, the London-based Edtech startup, has closed what is being described as the ‘biggest ever’ Series A fundraising in a UK Edtech business.

The funding in the business, which was set up by two London schoolboys, has been led by BGF Ventures, who contributed £3m, with participation from VC firm Beringea.

The online platform allows teachers to set homework, create resources, and track a student’s progress, and has been built from the ground up for use in schools and is now used in 480 schools in 32 countries.

Founders Simon Hay and Joe Mathewson have been working on the project since 2005 before going full time on the business in 2010, and claim that its platform can help free up teachers’ time and raise attainment amongst pupils.

Hay believes that the majority of schooling around the world was still ‘heavily reliant on bits of paper’, and that the sector had remained resistant to fundamental change.

He said: “Firefly Learning has developed a way to connect students, teachers and pupils so that they can collaborate even when they are not face to face, so that resources can be made available easily and curated properly and so that teachers can set and mark tasks quickly and easily, while allowing parents greater participation, which has been shown to improve results overall.”

Firefly currently employs 50 staff in offices in Hammersmith and Sydney and will now utilise the funding to double the size of its team.

The company has also said that it plans to develop its product further, with further expansion into the state school sector on the cards along and new hires planned for its sales and marketing team.

Simon Calver, founding partner at BGF Ventures, commented: “Firefly is already an international business operating in over thirty countries and we think this product has the potential to be the foremost platform in the global Edtech space.”

Stuart Veale, managing partner at Beringea, added: “We are delighted to be investing in Firefly alongside BGF Ventures. Simon, Joe, and the Firefly team have built an exceptionally strong product, as demonstrated by its high loyalty amongst teachers and schools.

“This new funding round will provide the company with the resources to continue its rapid growth and to enter its next phase of development.”

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