Rohan Shah has always known college faculty need a better tech-enabled solution to manage their classes.
He’s spent nearly six years aligning that vision, from the software to the business model to the strategy for entering the market.
He says his vision for Classavo has snapped into place by becoming a place where teachers self-publish their own curriculum, a major trend in the industry.
They then use the software platform to build their classes.
Shah used the money from a seed round to hire four new sales reps, who are hitting the road right now pitching to professors and other college personnel.
About 40 professors are being onboarded onto Classavo this summer, and many who used Classavo last fall are integrating it into their other classes, he said.
“I think the value proposition is already proven, both the public and the customers can see that,” Shah said. “Now it’s all about gaining marketshare.”
Shah declined to divulge the size of the funding round or to specifically name his investors, but he said they represent Bay Area venture capital funds and have been paving the way for introductions throughout Silicon Valley.
“We’re at an inflection point right now,” he said. “If we play our cards right, we have an opportunity to make a big impact.”
Classavo is the 16th local startup to acknowledge growth-oriented funding this year. The others include Tackle.io ($35 million), Jerry ($28 million), Torch Labs ($25 million), Circuit Clinical ($7.5 million), SomaDetect ($6 million), Kickfurther ($5.9 million), HELIXintel ($1.6 million), Patient Pattern ($1.2 million), Ellicottville Greens ($1 million), Ognomy ($700,000), Braid Babes ($415,000), MemoryFox ($380,000) and Zizo Technologies ($200,000) and Thimble.io ($125,000).
