WASHINGTON — April 20, 2021 — Class Technologies Inc. today announced it has raised $12.25 million in additional investment to further accelerate the rollout of its software that adds teaching and learning tools to Zoom. This financing brings the company’s total investment raised to over $58 million in the last 12 months. Investors in this round of financing include Salesforce Ventures and American quarterback and seven time Super Bowl champion and entrepreneur Tom Brady.
Additional investors in this financing include Sound Ventures and veteran talent executive, investor and entrepreneur Guy Oseary.
Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, said, “Michael Chasen is an amazing entrepreneur and we are thrilled to be part of Class. In today’s post-COVID world kids now learn from anywhere, which is exactly what Class and Michael do so well.”
Tom Brady said, “As most parents experienced first-hand, the pandemic highlighted the need for better online teaching and learning technology. I am pleased to partner with Michael Chasen, a proven education and technology pioneer and fellow father of three, to bring the promise, potential, and power of the digital classroom to people around the world.”
The funds from the investment will be used to accelerate the rollout of Class software and support the increased global demand. In the seven months since Class has launched, over 7,500 K-12 and Higher-Ed institutions, as well as corporations, around the world have reached out interested in using Class.
“We fast-tracked the development of Class, which is built on Zoom, because we believe people around the world can’t wait for our help,” said Michael Chasen, co-founder and CEO of Class. “Tom Brady and Marc Benioff’s backing further validates the interest leaders across different industries have around the massive impact we can drive through more effective and more efficient online learning.”
This investment adds to the prior investment of early stage and leading Zoom investors, including:
- Santi Subotovsky, General Partner at Emergence Capital and Board member of Zoom.
- Jim Scheinman, Founding Managing Partner of Maven Partners.
- Bill Tai, an investor with 30 years of venture capital experience.
As well as leading education technology investment firms such as:
- Deborah Quazzo, Partner at GSV Ventures, one of the leading investment funds in ed tech.
- Jeff Lieberman, Managing Director at Insight Partners.
- Ian Chiu, Managing Director at Owl Ventures.
- Reach Capital, focused on empowering learners through investing in innovative education companies.
And leading technology entrepreneurs and investors:
- Steve Case, co-founder of America Online (AOL), and Chairman and CEO of Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund.
- Fred Schaufeld, co-founder and Managing Director of SWaN & Legend Venture Partners.
- Slow Ventures, the fund that backed Slack, Casper, Postmates, and Airtable.
Class Provides Instructors With Tools Needed to Make
Virtual Classrooms Feel Like Real Classrooms
Class is built on the Zoom Meetings platform and offers K-12 and Higher-Ed institutions, as well as corporations, everything they need to facilitate instruction and improve engagement in the virtual classroom. The software adds teaching and learning tools to Zoom and enables instructors to perform many of the activities that happen in a real classroom, virtually, including the ability to:
- Present from the front of class
- Take attendance
- Track participation
- Hand out assignments and quizzes
- Proctor exams
- Grade work
- Talk one-on-one with a learner
- And more
About Salesforce Ventures
Salesforce is the global leader in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), bringing companies closer to their customers in the digital age. Salesforce Ventures, the global investment arm of Salesforce, invests in the next generation of enterprise technology that extends the power of the Salesforce Platform. Salesforce Ventures is building the world’s largest ecosystem of enterprise cloud companies and extending that technology to customers. Portfolio companies receive funding, strategic advisory, and operating support, and can easily join Pledge 1% to make giving back part of their business model. Salesforce Ventures has invested in more than 400 companies, including DocuSign, GoCardless, Guild Education, nCino, Twilio, Zoom, and others across 22 countries since 2009.
About Class Technologies Inc.
Class is software developed by Class Technologies Inc., a company founded by education software pioneer Michael Chasen. Class adds teaching and learning tools to Zoom and makes the virtual classroom feel like a real classroom. It helps teachers take attendance, hand out assignments, give a quiz or test, grade work, proctor exams, talk one-on-one with a student, and more. Founded in 2020, Class is headquartered in Washington, DC with staff around the world.
