Teachit raises undisclosed amount for U.S. expansion
The round of funding was led by a Google's managing director for industry development, but Google itself did not invest in the U.K.-based educational site.
Teachit, a U.K. service that collects classroom materials from teachers, announced today that it raised an undisclosed amount of funding for expansion into the United States. The company said that the round was led by Google managing director for industry development, John Burke, but Google itself did not invest in the company.
Teachit works with English, drama, and media studies teachers who draft classroom materials, workbooks, lesson plans, and teaching tools, which are then shared with the Web site community. Based on the popularity of their materials, Teachit shares with teachers a portion of the revenue generated by membership. Membership fees range from $77 for basic service to $215 to full access.
According to PaidContent, the round of funding is Teachit's first. The company's executives claim that funding wasn't necessary prior to this round because Teachit has been profitable since its inception.
"There were a number of other private investors, who are not taking board positions," Teachit's Garry Pratt told PaidContent. "The founders still control over 80 percent of the company. John's investment is private and he is staying on at his position with Google."
Teachit's expansion into the US market is an interesting one. Like its U.K. operation, the company will work with teachers across the country and share revenue with the educators on all the content they write for the site. But with a slew of competitors in the market, like LearnHub, LingusTV, and Studentsknow.com, controlling the American market may not be as easy as it was in the U.K.