K-12 Dealmaking: Labster Raises $47M; UAE Startup Takes In $3M in Pre-Seed Round
Education startup Labster raised $47 million in additional funding, which the company says will support its international growth.
Labster, headquartered in Copenhagen, is an interactive, virtual science platform, with offerings that include laboratory simulations for students.
The startup has now raised $147 million in total capital and reports serving more than 5 million high school and college students in at least 70 countries, with a goal of reaching 100 million around the world.
The new funding will allow Labster to establish itself in Asia and Latin America, as well as expand its reach to younger students and adult workforce training, according to the announcement.
“There has been a fundamental change in the nature of education over the last two years,” Co-Founder and CEO Michael Bodekaer Jensen said in a statement, “that confirms the high value and impact on student engagement and learning outcomes of virtual educational simulations offered in tandem with in-person, teacher-led coursework in a post-pandemic world.”
The funding came from new investors Sofina Group and Pirate Impact, as well as existing investors including Owl Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, EduCapital, NPF Technologies, and GGV Capital.
In 2021, Labster raised $60 million in a Series C funding round to support establishing operations in South America.
UAE ed-tech startup raises $3 million. Qureos, a startup based in the United Arab Emirates, raised $3 million in a pre-seed round led by COTU Ventures and Colle Capital Venture Fund.
Qureos, founded in 2021, offers cohort-based synchronous education focused on career skills through its learning community. The company currently serves customers in over 127 countries, according to the announcement.
The funding round also saw participation from Globivest, Plutus21 Capital, Dubai Angel Investors, and AIXayani Venture Capital, among others.
The investment will be used to “build product-led operations” and “expand its remote-first team” with a focus on hiring in UAE, Pakistan, and India, according to the company.
“We believe that new learning models like Qureos… are going to become more mainstream and disrupt traditional players.” Amir Farha, founder and managing partner at COTU Ventures, said in a statement.
Kuwait-based tutoring company raises more than $2 million. Digital tutoring platform Baims raised $2.2 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Rasameel Investment House.
Founded in 2017, the company offers online video lectures, notes, live sessions, and quizzes for students.
The platform currently serves university students in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan with more than 2,900 courses and 55,000 lectures covering more than 20 universities, according to Baims.
The company says the new funding will allow it to grow within its existing markets in the Middle East, as well as expand to provide more courses for university and high school students.
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