K-12 Dealmaking: MathCrunch Rebrands and Raises $4 Million; CareDox Takes In $4.3 Million

Contributing Writer

Noteworthy recent deals include a tutoring company raising money after a rebranding, and a student health platform bringing in investment dollars to support its growth in the public sector.

MathCrunch Raises $4 Million, Rebrands as Yup: MathCrunch, a mobile app that provides tutoring for students, has rebranded itself Yup and raised $4 million in seed funding from existing and new investors including Stanford University’s StartX Fund and SOMA Capital, bringing the company’s total funding to $7.5 million.

Yup says it will use the funding to expand its user base and further develop its Personalized Inquiry Learning™ framework to combat cheating in online tutoring services, according to a statement. Yup’s platform monitors how tutors interact with students and aims to ensure they are “working through the problems and not just being handed the answers,” the company says.

San Francisco-based Yup also noted in last week’s announcement that it has expanded its services to support chemistry and physics.

CareDox Raises $4.3 Million: The digital student health platform raised $2.8 million in seed funding led by TEXO Ventures and Prolog Ventures and a $1.5 million venture debt agreement with Western Technology Investment. The new equity and debt funding brings the company’s total to $6.9 million.

With this funding, CareDox said in a statement that it plans to continue its focus on growth in the public school sector. The company said it is expanding sales and engineering functions at its New York City office and developing new strategic partnerships with leaders in the field of pediatric health.

Polar 3D Acquires STEAMtrax from 3D Systems: Polar 3D, a Cincinnati-based 3D printing technology and manufacturing company, completed the acquisition of STEAMtrax, a STEAM-based (science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics) curriculum, from 3D Systems, a provider of 3D products and services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The STEAMtrax curriculum aims to integrate engineering, CAD modeling and 3D printing technology with core academic knowledge in areas of science, math, language arts, social studies, and art. The curriculum is currently available for students in grades K-8, with high school curriculum to launch by August 2016.

“With 3D Systems exit from the consumer market, we saw an opportunity to partner with them and continue their great work and momentum in the education space,” Greg LaLonde, CEO of Polar 3D, said in a statement.

And in other recent fundraising/investment news, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation is pouring $1.5 million into the Jefferson Education Accelerator, a commercial project that attempts to pair companies with academic researchers.

The JEA has publicly announced that it is working with two companies, Echo360 and Agile Mind, and says it is supporting others, too. More details on the foundation’s gift can be found here.

Be sure to check back on Marketplace K-12 for updates on mergers, acquisitions, fundraising, and other dealmaking. Also see EdWeek Market Brief, a service that gives companies operating in the market insights on the needs and priorities of school officials.

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