A Mesa company dedicated to empowering tuition-free “microschools” that meet in homes or other flexible locations, has raised $20 million to continue developing its platform.
The company, Prenda, recently completed its series B round, which was led by venture capital firm Seven Seven Six, along with VC Learn Capital, Modern Venture Partners, Peak State Ventures and other investors, according to the TechCrunch website.
The cash infusion comes a little over a year after Prenda raised close to the same amount in an equity securities sale and nearly two years after a similar raise, which was one of the Valley’s largest venture capital deals of 2020.
According to Prenda’s website, the company uses state-of-the-art online tools to help students in kindergarten through eighth grade pursue project-based education in small groups of between five and 10 children.
The Prenda model describes students as “co-creators of the education,” and the company says it has served more than 3,000 students in more than 300 microschools in more than six states where it has partnered with state-accredited institutions.
Microschools are led by what the company calls guides — people who may or may not be teachers and who undergo background checks. They are described by the company as coaches and mentors using Prenda’s tools to help students learn for themselves individually and collaboratively at their own pace.
Accredited teachers monitor students' progress
The company typically works with schools or school districts or other organizations for financing, which is shared between the company and the guides, according to TechCrunch. Student progress is monitored by accredited teachers provided by school districts.
The Business Journal reported in 2021 that in Arizona the company accepted funding from families using the Arizona Department of Education’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program.
Prenda provides administration tools, learning materials and computers, TechCrunch reported. Curriculum is a blend of third-party online tools and those that Prenda has developed.
Kelly Smith, Prenda’s CEO, who founded the company in 2015, told TechCrunch that he came up with the idea after seeing children working in their own ways while he was volunteering as a computing tutor. And while the model launched before Covid-19, the school closures and isolated learning circumstances students experienced during the pandemic increased interest.
Around the time of its 2021 funding effort, the company and one of its partners were under investigation by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office after a complaint was filed. Months earlier, the Arizona Republic reported that Prenda had indirectly received public school funding despite not having a charter with the state.
The AG’s office, however, said a review by the Special Investigations Section found that no crime occurred.
