SA国际传媒

has closed more than $1 billion in new funds, the Menlo Park, California-based edtech investor announced Wednesday.

Leaders at Owl Ventures, the largest VC firm globally focused exclusively on edtech, say little is off-limits when it comes to the types of companies and technology they intend to invest in, from pre-kindergarten to higher education and the future of work. The firm is also looking closely at what it calls 鈥淓dTech+,鈥� which is an industry that sits somewhere between traditional edtech and other types of technology, like fintech and health care.

鈥淲e’ve always been focused on investing in the very best education technology companies around the world, full stop, and we have a lot of flexibility in how we do that,鈥� , managing director at Owl Ventures, told SA国际传媒 News. 鈥淲e can do seed stage all the way to traditional A, B and C rounds, and then also late stage, so the full gamut.鈥�

Since its 2014 inception, Owl Ventures has invested in a varied list of fast-growing edtech companies around the world, including , , , , , , and .

The $1 billion in new funds is split across three areas: A $640 million fund (the fifth of its kind), a $270 million Opportunity Fund (the second of its kind), and more than $100 million in special-purpose vehicles.

Although all of the special-purpose vehicles funding has already been deployed, it鈥檚 still early days for the two investment funds. The Opportunity Fund will go to Owl Ventures鈥� existing portfolio companies.

The announcement marks a milestone for Owl Ventures, which in 2019 was dubbed a 鈥渞ising star鈥� by SA国际传媒 News when it had made investments in about 24 companies after raising its third fund, of $316 million. Today the firm has invested in 65 companies and has about $2 billion in assets under management.

鈥淚 think the milestone for us is really just a continuation of being the largest fund in this space,鈥� said , managing director at Owl Ventures. 鈥淎s a result, we will be able to attract top team LPs, really access what we believe are the top deals, and really create a virtuous cycle that we believe will help best position us to really capture this multi-decade opportunity.鈥�

One of the firm鈥檚 major investment success stories is 叠驰闯鲍鈥橲, the largest edtech company in India and one of the busiest startups in the field last year.

叠驰闯鲍鈥橲 acquired Singapore-based for $600 million, then Redwood City, California-based for $500 million, and finally India-based for around $1 billion in 2021. The startup is rumored to be considering going public in the United States through a SPAC, .

鈥淥wl Ventures has been an invaluable partner to 叠驰闯鲍鈥橲 as we have scaled over the years,鈥� , founder and CEO of 叠驰闯鲍鈥橲 said in a statement. 鈥淎s an edtech specialist, Owl is a differentiated investor that has provided unique value across many functions including acquisitions, partnerships, talent and international expansion.鈥�

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