Tales2Go Raises $2.4 Million in Series A Round, Elects Richard Barth to Board of Directors
Proceeds will fund further expansion of the company in the U.S. and Canada, and subsequently abroad to international territories
BETHESDA, Md., March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Tales2Go Inc. announces today it has completed a $2.4 million Series A financing and elected Richard Barth, CEO of the KIPP Foundation, to its board of directors. The round was led by a group of private investors with participation from NewSchools Venture Fund and the Maryland Venture Fund.
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Tales2Go, known as a Netflix for children's audio books, supports the development of literacy skills during a student's most critical early childhood and elementary school years. Repeated exposure to sophisticated words, spoken fluently and in context, drives vocabulary acquisition and retention, which is a key component of reading proficiency. Reading proficiency, in turn, is a key factor in achieving academic success. Yet most students lack such an exposure and have a limited vocabulary. The Tales2Go service easily adds a listening component to classroom reading instruction and is used in some of the largest and most progressive districts in the U.S., including Los Angeles Unified School District (California), Broward County Schools (Florida), Berkeley Unified School District (California) and Heartland Area Education Agency (Iowa).
"We are delighted to have completed our most recent financing and welcome Richard to our board," said Tales2Go Co-Founder and CEO, William Weil. "Richard shares our belief that every student can achieve academic success. Richard has been committed to improving educational outcomes for underserved youth since college, initially as a founding staff member of Teach for America, then President of District Partnerships at Edison Schools and for the past nine years, CEO of the KIPP Foundation, where he has overseen significant growth in their network from 45 to 162 schools. Richard brings experience, strategic acumen and passion to our mission. With nearly two-thirds of all U.S. fourth graders reading below proficiency, there's much work to be done."
"I'm excited to join the Tales2Go board and help guide the future growth of the company," said Richard Barth, CEO of the KIPP Foundation. "The initial success of the Tales2Go service is both an early indicator of efficacy and the company's commitment to solving the word gap, a problem that plagues administrators and educators across the country, especially in low-income communities in which many parents and caregivers are unable to read to their children in sufficient quantity or cannot read to them in English."
Proceeds from the financing will be used to fund further expansion of the company in the U.S. and Canada, and subsequently abroad to international territories.
For more information on Tales2Go, please visit: www.tales2go.com
About Tales2Go:
Tales2Go, known as a Netflix for children's audio books, supports the development of literacy skills during a student's most critical early childhood and elementary school years. Repeated exposure to sophisticated words, spoken fluently and in context, drives vocabulary acquisition and retention, which is a key component of reading proficiency. Reading proficiency, in turn, is a key factor in achieving academic success. Yet most students lack such an exposure and have a limited vocabulary. The Tales2Go service easily adds a listening component to classroom reading instruction and is used in a growing number of schools and districts across the U.S., including Los Angeles USD, Broward County Schools, Berkeley USD and Heartland AEA. More information at www.tales2go.com.
Tales2Go Press Contact:
Karen Mahon
Email
408-394-6140
LinkedIn.com/in/karenmahon
William Weil
Email
301-320-3030
SOURCE Tales2Go
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