USA – Outlier.org, a NYC-based online education platform working to increase access to quality college education and reduce student debt, raised $30m in Series B funding.
The round was led by GV with participation from Unusual Ventures, existing investors GSV and Harrison Metal, as well as Gaingels, an investment syndicate in service of the LGBTQ+ community, and a group of underrepresented angel investors. The companym which has raised a total of $46m to date, intends to use the funds to expand operations and its business reach. For $400, around one-sixth the cost of a traditional college course, Outlier.org students enjoy a world-class learning experience that earns them transferable college credit. Courses use cutting-edge learning techniques, including adopting innovations from educational psychology research and game design. Cinema-quality lectures are taught by some of the brightest figures in academia, including instructors from Yale, Harvard, MIT, and Columbia.The company currently offers a catalog of six college courses, ranging from Calculus I and Microeconomics to Astronomy and Philosophy. Outlier.org will use the new funding to release 14 more courses by the end of 2022, enabling students to complete their first 2 years of college for a fraction of the traditional cost, and give partners like universities and employers more ways to support students on their path to a degree. Outlier.org students continue to achieve a C grade or better at a rate that matches that of in-person students.Led by Aaron Rasmussen, CEO and founder, Outlier.org offers online courses taught by charismatic figures in academia, including instructors from Yale, MIT, and Columbia. The learning experience includes access to 1-on-1 tutoring for math courses, AI-proctored assessments, dynamically-generated problem sets, active learning materials. Each course is priced at just $400.26/04/2021
