Open English Secures $65 Million in Latest Round of Financing

MIAMI, May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Open English, the leading online English school across the Americas, announced today a $65 million Series D round of capital financing.  Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) led the investment and was joined by existing Open English investors Insight and Redpoint.  The latest round brings total funding over the past three years to $120 million.  This sum represents one of the largest investments of capital in the history of education technology and positions the company to continue its explosive growth.  The announcement comes on the heels of Open English surpassing 100,000 students across the region.

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"We are thrilled with this latest round of financing, which further validates our business strategy and will bolster our expansion plans moving forward," said Andres Moreno, Founder & CEO of Open English.  "It is also gratifying to close this round with investment partners that bring unparalleled experience to the table, and will add value to our business well beyond the capital funds."

TCV, which led the Series D round, is a leading provider of growth-stage capital with successful investments in some of the most iconic consumer Internet and EdTech companies, such as Capella Education, EmbanetCompass (now part of Pearson), Expedia, Facebook, K12 Inc., Netflix, Orbitz and Zillow.  TCV General Partner Robert Trudeau will join the company's board.

"Our philosophy is to establish long-running relationships with premier technology companies and help them to achieve their full potential.  In that spirit, we have been following Open English for some time and are excited to add the company to our portfolio," said Robert Trudeau of TCV.  "Andres and his leadership team have built an innovative platform, a useful and effective service for their students, and an iconic brand in just a few short years.  We look forwarding to helping Open English build on this tremendous track record of success."

The funds will be used to fulfill the company's mission to be the most effective way to reach fluency in English by improving the overall user experience, fueling staff growth and expanding into new territories across the globe.

ABOUT OPEN ENGLISH

Open English is the leading online English-language school across the Americas. The company was founded in 2006 seeking to reinvent the English-language learning experience for today's busy professional by offering them customized 24/7 online-only instruction imparted by native English-speaking teachers. Currently having surpassed 100,000 students, the company's language program is founded on a guarantee of helping students achieve fluency in the English language in a short amount of time, and have fun along the way. To learn more, please visit www.openenglish.com.

ABOUT TCV

Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV), founded in 1995, is a leading provider of capital to growth-stage technology companies, providing funds to later-stage private and public companies.  With $7.7 billion in capital raised, TCV has invested in nearly 200 technology companies over the last 17 years. Selected investments include Altiris, C|NET, ExactTarget, Expedia, Facebook, Fandango, FX Alliance, Go Daddy, Genesys Software, Groupon, HomeAway, Netflix, RealNetworks, Redback Networks, RiskMetrics Group, Sitecore, Splunk, Thinkorswim, and Zillow. TCV has 11 partners and is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA with offices in New York, NY and London. For more information about TCV, including a complete list of TCV investments, visit www.tcv.com.

SOURCE Open English