By guest blogger Kevin Connors

December was certainly a month to remember for Clever, Everspring, and SurveyMonkey—three education-oriented companies that received some of the largest rounds of venture capital funding as 2014 came to a close.

Clever: San Francisco-based Clever attracted another $30 million in outside investment. The educational app platform provider helps schools manage various apps through a single dashboard, which also integrates with a school’s existing Student Information System. In a statement, the company said it plans to use the funds to “accelerate growth and meet increasing demand for its app platform.” This round of financing came from GSV Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, and technology entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel.  We wrote about Clever’s recent partnership with Carnegie Learning in November, and in total, Clever has now raised over $43 million of venture capital.

Everspring: Evanston, IL-based Everspring raised $10 million in a recent round that included return investors Carrick Capital Partners and Accretive, as well as new investor Park Loop. Everspring helps universities develop online-degree programs by covering the up-front costs for technology and marketing. It was their second round of the year and brings their total venture capital to $20 million. For more, here’s Crain’s Chicago Business’ story about the company.

SurveyMonkey: The online survey tool provider raised a mega-$250 million from an array of investors: newcomers Baillie Gifford & Co., Morgan Stanley, and T. Rowe Price Group, Inc., and existing investors Google Capital, Tiger Global Management, and SurveyMonkey CEO Dave Goldberg. Since its inception in 1999, the Palo Alto, ,Calif.-based company has raised $1.2 billion in venture capital. Its tools are used by 20 million customers, about a quarter of which come from the education space. Bloomberg reports that the company plans to invest almost a third of its new funds in acquisitions.

For more news on mergers, acquisitions, and venture capital in education, follow Marketplace K-12’s “K-12 Dealmaking” series.