Chicago – January 15, 2019 – BenchPrep, the leading provider of an advanced white-label online learning platform for education and training organizations, announced today a $20 million Series C round of funding co-led by leading expansion stage investors Jump Capital and Owl Ventures. Previous investors who joined this round include NewView Capital and Revolution Ventures. This latest round also incorporates debt financing and brings BenchPrep’s funding total to $28.2 million. The funds will be used to fuel the Company’s growth, further enhance its product offering, and extend its leadership position in the education and training industry.
The funding follows a year of record growth for BenchPrep, which tripled its revenue rate and its team in the last two years. In 2018, BenchPrep signed partnerships with world-leading education and training organizations, including Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), Association of Supply Chain Management (ASCM), American Institute of Architects (AIA), and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).
“2018 was a banner year for BenchPrep. We are excited to help the leading education and training organizations modernize their learning programs to serve millions of learners,” said Ashish Rangnekar, co-founder and CEO of BenchPrep. “The professional learning landscape is going through a dramatic shift towards online, personalized learning. BenchPrep is well positioned to lead this shift by helping education and training companies transform their business models and digitize their learning programs.”
Rangnekar founded BenchPrep in 2009 with Ujjwal Gupta, COO.
Continuous learning has become an economic imperative for both professionals and organizations. Education and training organizations are being forced to reevaluate their learning strategies and programs. BenchPrep is proving to be an industry leader in learning program delivery by offering a variety of customized online solutions that drive user adoption and engagement, improve pass rates, and increase revenue.
“We view the acceleration of digital transformation in the professional education and learning space as a large opportunity and we are very excited to partner with an industry leader in BenchPrep,” said Michael McMahon, Managing Partner at Jump Capital.
BenchPrep delivers the most advanced and flexible learning experience for certification, credentialing, test prep, continuing education, and training. Its cloud-based learning platform is designed to help education and training organizations deliver a highly engaging and effective learning experience for users who are trying to advance their careers. The platform also offers the latest in learner-centered technology to deliver personalized, gamified, omni-channel learning experiences that lead to higher engagement, increased learner satisfaction, and improved success rates.
“For many organizations, delivering a modern digital learning experience can be very challenging and costly. By partnering with BenchPrep, organizations can offer a state-of-the-art learning program that generates high margin revenue and strengthens their long-term relationships with their learners,” said Ian Chiu, Managing Director at Owl Ventures. “We look forward to supporting Ashish, Ujjwal, and the BenchPrep team as they bring new and innovative capabilities to professional education and training.”
About BenchPrep
Based in Chicago, BenchPrep enables the world’s leading education, training, and assessment companies to build and deliver best-in-class online learning programs. The Company’s innovative enterprise SaaS learner success solutions incorporate the latest in learner-centered technology, including personalization, gamification, data science, usability and omni-channel delivery. Customers include ACT, Becker Professional Education, AAMC, CFA Institute, ProLiteracy, HR Certification Institute, Hobsons, McGraw-Hill Education, OnCourse Learning, GMAC, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. More than 3 million learners have used BenchPrep’s platform to attain academic and professional success. To discover more about BenchPrep, please visit benchprep.com.
About Jump Capital
Jump Capital is a venture capital firm specializing in expansion and growth stage investments ranging from $2-$20mm. Jump invests in data-driven enterprise software companies across a breadth of industries. With offices in Chicago and New York, Jump provides advocacy and support through a platform of institutional-level resources for entrepreneurs. Learn more at www.jumpcap.com or follow on twitter @jumpcapital.
About Owl Ventures
Owl Ventures is a Silicon Valley based venture capital fund that invests in the world’s leading education technology companies. Owl has been a major investor in many of the fastest growing companies in the education market, including Accelerate Learning, Degreed, DreamBox Learning, Newsela, Noodle Partners, and Quizlet. The firm has invested in 24 companies across the education spectrum encompassing early childhood, K-12, higher education and career mobility/professional learning. Owl leverages its deep domain expertise and takes an active hands-on approach to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses into transformative category leading companies. The firm was founded in 2014 and has over $600 million in assets under management. Learn more at www.OwlVC.com.
