Deal highlights

• Connecting over 320,000 students from over 7,000 schools in 150 countries
• 78 paying schools and districts (average deal size = $1,770 / year)
• Named Best Education Technology of 2017 by Common Sense Education
• Recognized by President Obama as a leading social enterprise
• Led by an experienced entrepreneur whose previous company generates $5M annual revenue
• Partnered with leading publishers including Time Inc, Via Afrika, and Films BYkids
• $1.25M raised to date from Stanford, Floodgate, Techstars, Capital Factory, Dreamit, Honeycomb Portfolio and more

“Why do we have to learn this?” It’s the question that haunts every teacher. When schoolwork doesn’t seem relevant, students quickly lose interest and stop learning. And with information just a Google search away, memorizing facts for tests seems more pointless than ever.

This lack of student motivation has led to a crisis in our education system, with students failing to meet grade level targets across all ages and skills.

Innovative schools are starting to change 

Fortunately, many schools across the US and around the world have recognized that a system based on memorization and testing is not effective. Innovative teachers are leading a movement towards project-based learning, where students demonstrate their learning not by passing a test, but by creating original work. When done well, project-based learning not only motivates students to learn the required content and skills, it also helps them to develop creativity, communication and collaboration skills. 

With over 320,000 participating students in more than 150 countries, PenPal Schools is leading the project-based learning revolution.  

Explore a map of participating schools in 150 countries

Students on PenPal Schools don’t just write to each other - they collaborate globally to design robots, create films, explore careers, and find local solutions to global problems. Sound like fun? It is! 

Meet more teachers and PenPals from around the world

Students on PenPal Schools are so engaged and motivated in their learning that PenPal Schools has earned high-profile press and won numerous prestigious awards, including Best Edtech of the Year by Common Sense Education (a big deal). PenPal Schools was also recognized by President Obama (a bigger deal) as an outstanding social enterprise - an organization that uses a for-profit business model to create positive change.

How Penpal Schools works 

These screenshots are nice, but to really get a feel for PenPal Schools you should see a demo. Pick a topic of your choice and preview it to see the quality of the content and technology. The demo looks pretty good on a phone, but it's optimized for a laptop - the way 90% of our students use it. 

Demo PenPal Schools 

The market 

As you may already know, the K-12 education industry is very large. In the United States alone, there are over 98,000 public schools and 33,000 private schools serving a total of over 56 million students. These schools spend a total of $12.4 billion per year on instructional supplies.

What you may not know, unless you spend a lot of time in schools, is that classrooms today look very different than they did just a few years ago. Schools everywhere recognize the need for students to practice using technology, and are replacing worn out textbooks with digital instructional materials. Today, 98 percent of US school districts provide internet access for students. 

Just as classrooms are shifting from textbooks to technology, so are the budgets of schools and school districts:

In addition to what they purchase, schools and districts have also changed how they purchase. In the past, large textbook publishers sold their products by schmoozing administrators with fancy dinners or golf outings. This was great for administrators, but often forced students and teachers to use ineffective products. Fortunately, today schools and districts demand free trials (pilots) of digital resources to make sure that they are effective. This is great for students and teachers, as well as for the companies that have built the products that they love. Like, for example, PenPal Schools.

Penpal Schools' business model fit perfectly with this teacher-driven purchasing system

Teachers can complete any two topics for free on PenPal Schools. After completing their free trial, teachers are given the option to encourage their principal to purchase a license for the school (we don’t believe in charging teachers).

Since implementing this system in 2017, PenPal Schools has sold licenses to 75 schools and 3 districts:

The sales pipeline for 2019 is very strong, with revenue expected to surpass expenses in March based on sales to individual schools alone. In addition, news of PenPal Schools has reached administrators from some of the largest school districts in the US, and pilots are currently underway with 8 districts representing a combined total of 591 schools. Students and teachers from these districts are already using PenPal Schools and sharing their feedback with district administrators, who will make purchases in the Spring for the 2019-20 school year.

What's next 

Spring 2019 - PenPal Schools will hire additional account managers to increase sales and manage existing relationships. These account managers will field inbound leads generated from free trials while also focusing on business development with large school districts.

Summer 2019 - PenPal Schools will introduce a mobile app for parents. The free version of this app will enable parents to see the amazing projects that their children create with peers around the world. For a small monthly fee, parents will be able to enroll their children in additional topics beyond those selected by the teacher. Premium subscribers will also have access to advanced analytics and recommendation features, made possible by the thousands of assessments that students receive from peers and teachers.

This freemium parent app will enable PenPal Schools to enter the fast-growing home education market. With US children ages 8-12 spending an average of 6 hours per day online, parents are increasingly willing to pay for educational apps to ensure that screen time is well-spent. While reliable statistics for the size of the home education market are not yet available, the impressive valuations for companies focused on sales to parents, such as ABCmouse and Classdojo, demonstrate the common belief amongst education investors and analysts in the strength of the home education market.

Investors 

PenPal Schools has raised a total of $1.25M from a mix of angel and institutional investors.

Meet our team

Join us in making education global, fun, and engaging for students everywhere!

We are especially excited to invite educators to invest in PenPal Schools! Our program has grown and evolved thanks to the support of some truly amazing teachers and administrators. We are so grateful for all you have done for us and for your students, and we are thrilled to offer you the opportunity to share in our success. - Joe