SketchyMedical Nabs $30M

SketchyMedical, a leading online education company that teaches complex concepts through visual memory techniques, today announced it has received a majority-stake investment of $30 million from TCG. The investment will be used to scale company growth and establish an in-house studio for live content and animation for tackling new subjects.

"Students love how the SketchyMedical team leverages the powerful combination of creativity and animation to make the tedious task of memorization more fun," said Mike Kerns, Co-Founder and Partner, TCG. "The possibilities are endless for this approach to learning, and we're looking forward to helping them scale the business and grow their passionate user base."

Founded in 2013 by four medical students, SketchyMedical uses the well-regarded memory palace technique to help fellow students retain the overwhelming amount of information necessary for board exams and beyond. SketchyMedical offers tiered subscriptions that include a comprehensive set of video lessons, with complementary review cards and quiz questions. Each video depicts memorable scenes illustrated layer by layer, in real time, as the narrator guides students through a story to help with the memorization process.

"SketchyMedical was born out of the real-life problem my co-founders and I encountered while preparing for our own board exams in med school," said Saud Siddiqui, Co-Founder and CEO, SketchyMedical. "We never planned on starting a company, but it was the only way to share our sketches and study method with our peers. With TCG's operational support and creative expertise, we will be able to provide new offerings to students beyond medical school."

SketchyMedical offers courses in microbiology, pharmacology, pathophysiology, biochemistry, internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, and OB/GYN. While their content offering is currently focused on medical subjects, the company aims to use visual learning to make education more pleasurable and easier for a broad audience beyond the medical community. Students that have used SketchyMedical have a 30 percent improvement in recall using Sketchy compared to reading a textbook passage.

After building their product for seven years, SketchyMedical selected TCG as an investment partner due to the team's deep operations, content creation experience, and history of investing in founder-led companies such as Barstool Sports, Exploding Kittens, Food52, Headspace, and RoosterTeeth. Mike Kerns, Co-Founder and Partner at TCG, and Michaela Venuti, Vice President of TCG, will take positions on SketchyMedical's Board of Directors.

For more information on SketchyMedical, please visit https://sketchymedical.com/.

About SketchyMedical

SketchyMedical is a leading online education company that helps students master complex concepts through fun and informative video sketches that enhance visual memory. Founded in 2013 by Saud Siddiqui, Andrew Berg, Bryan Lemieux, and Aaron Lemieux while in medical school, SketchyMedical provides its passionate user base with a relatable and entertaining way to survive medical school. TCG invested $30 million in the company in 2020.

About TCG

Founded by Peter Chernin, Jesse Jacobs, and Mike Kerns, TCG, an affiliate of The Chernin Group, LLC, is an investment firm dedicated to building consumer businesses. The TCG team has a track record of working with world-class consumer brands in content, commerce, and consumer-tech, including Crunchyroll, Headspace, MeatEater, Exploding Kittens, Food52, The Action Network, and Barstool Sports.