Owl Ventures Closes $585 Million in New Funds to Support Edtech

San Francisco – September 4, 2020 – Cooley advised Owl Ventures, the largest educational technology venture capital fund, on the closing of two funds totaling $585 million – $415 million for its fourth fund and $170 million for its first opportunity fund. The new funds will fuel its strategy of making early-, growth- and later-stage investments in the world's leading edtech companies across the education spectrum, including pre-K-12, higher education and future of work. Cooley partner Jordan Silber led the team advising Owl Ventures.

“Since we began the firm, we have seen the digital revolution rapidly unfold in education and workforce development,” Tory Patterson, a managing director at Owl Ventures, said in a news release. “Due to the shift to remote learning and work, we find ourselves in a watershed moment for the over $6 trillion education and training market as the rising digital penetration in the sector that had already been taking place has surged.”

“We are finding that our portfolio companies based in the US, China, Europe and India are mission-critical elements to continued learning,” added Ian Chiu, a managing director at Owl Ventures. “Inbound inquiries, user growth/engagement and customer pipelines have dramatically spiked across our portfolio with our platforms being leveraged globally.”

The success of Owl Ventures’ global investment strategy was recently highlighted when two of its portfolio companies in India linked up – with BYJU's, the most valuable privately held edtech company in the world, acquiring 18-month-old startup WhiteHat Jr for $300 million. Owl Ventures was the only fund that was an investor in both companies.

Silicon Valley-based Owl Ventures is the lead investor in the vast majority of its deals and typically joins the board of each of its companies. This hands-on approach helps companies across numerous functions, including distribution, partnerships, talent, fundraising and outcomes measurement. The firm has also helped foster a robust community within the portfolio companies through CEO summits and industry-specific events that allow fellow edtech entrepreneurs to share best practices, insights and explore partnership opportunities.

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