UCL has backed digital tuition platform Matr with funding and its support in creating a university-accredited qualification for training online teachers.
Matr, a UK-based digital tuition platform that has partnered University College of London (UCL), closed a £4.8m ($6.4m) series A round yesterday co-led by the UCL Technology Fund and VC fund Downing Ventures.
Charitable innovation foundation Nesta also joined the round, as did impact investment fund Ananda and angel investor Sherry Coutu.
Founded in 2013, Matr operates an online maths tuition platform that connects almost 40,000 children aged seven to 11 in the UK to tutors in India and Sri Lanka.
Pupils can utilise the service’s free resources or opt for a paid subscription plan which buys access to live one-to-one lessons, assessments and progress reports.
Matr will put the cash towards product development, targeting home tuition in order to cater for a global teaching and student base.
The company also plans to create an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered teacher training program, drawing upon a database of 500,000 recordings it has collected of online teaching sessions.
UCL will help build the training system under a research and qualification partnership which will involve Matr working closely with Rose Luckin, a professor of learner-centred design at the UCL Knowledge Lab.
The university hopes to use Matr’s data to formulate an occupational qualification for online teaching.
Matr has now raised a total of $10.9m in funding, though details for earlier rounds could not be ascertained.
David Grimm, manager of the UCL Technology Fund, said: “Matr has the potential, in collaboration with UCL, to set the standard for online teaching and achieve traction in global tutoring markets.
“Its plans to build an efficient AI system and use it to certify its teachers with a UCL qualification will set it apart in this unregulated market. This is an excellent opportunity to invest in a strong team, with a proven and clearly differentiated business model.”
