ClassDojo

ClassDojo makes a communication and classroom app used by teachers, students and families, mostly in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Teachers use it for behavior feedback, class updates and messaging with parents, and families can pay for a premium tier, ClassDojo Plus, introduced in 2019. Sam Chaudhary, a former teacher and McKinsey consultant who is chief executive, and Liam Don, a programmer who had worked on the RuneScape games, founded the company in 2011 and went through the education accelerator Imagine K12, later folded into Y Combinator. It has been described as San Francisco-based, though Forbes later reported it operates remote-first. The company says it is used in 95% of U.S. pre-K through eighth-grade schools and in 180 other countries, and describes a community of more than 50 million teachers and families.

ClassDojo announced a $1.6 million seed round in August 2012 from Paul Graham personally, Ron Conway, Jeff Clavier, Kapor Capital, Start Fund, General Catalyst, Morado Ventures, Lerer Ventures, NewSchools Venture Fund and Learn Capital. A Series A of $8.5 million led by Shasta Ventures followed in March 2014. In April 2016 General Catalyst, whose managing partner Hemant Taneja had invested at seed, led a $21 million Series B with new investors GSV, Reach Capital and SignalFire, taking the total to $31 million. In February 2019 GSV and SignalFire co-led a $35 million Series C with General Catalyst and Uncork Capital, bringing total funding to $65 million at a reported valuation of about $400 million. In 2020 it raised $30 million in a round led by Josh Buckley. In September 2021 it raised a $125 million Series D led by Tencent that valued the company at $1.25 billion, disclosed by Forbes in July 2022.

The company remains private and independent. Forbes estimated in 2022 that its annualized revenue exceeded $30 million and reported a team of about 110 people. The Series D funded a push into a moderated virtual world for children outside school hours, with hires from Roblox, DreamWorks and Disney, including Club Penguin cofounder Lane Merrifield.

ClassDojo illustrates a consumer-style growth path in education: early investors, notably General Catalyst from seed, backed nearly a decade of free adoption before the company charged families in 2019. The step from a reported $99 million valuation in 2015 to $1.25 billion in 2021 came only after a paid product existed, and no liquidity event has occurred.