Video technology spin-out Vidku raises $17m to support development of its Flipgrid tool.

Vidku, a video tech spin-out launched by a Minnesota University professor, has raised $17m.

The round was backed by Arthur Ventures, and the financing will be used to develop and market its video sharing app Flipgrid. Aimed at education, the app allows professors to post discussion questions, both online and in person, and receive responses from their students.

Since launching last year, the app has seen the exchange of two million videos, and is being used internationally.

Jim Leslie, CEO of Vidku, said: “The thing that really caught Phil’s [Soran, executive chairman at Vidku] and my attention was that although everything about Flipgrid was positioned as an education tool, about 20 percent of users were not educators. They were business people, people using it personally to stay connected with their families. It was wedding photographers and conventions. It was amazing how broad of a spectrum that the user base was.”