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My inspiration for starting Class was always close to home: my three kids. I didn’t need to look beyond my own kitchen table, where they were attending school online, to see the urgent need.

Since the launch of Class, the response from institutions and corporations has been overwhelming and humbling. We’ve come a long way in a short amount of time. 

And the demand has grown much further than my own kitchen table.

The need to help people teach and learn better online is both right here in the U.S. and worldwide.

Class has already expanded into many countries outside the U.S. Our team has been fielding inquiries from schools, universities and companies all over the world who want to use Class to add teaching and learning tools to Zoom. 

Since the beginning, we’ve had a great group of backers. From the colleges, universities, schools and corporate learning teams that joined us in early beta tests, to a great team of investors who are the best at growing education technology innovations. We’re still humbled to have investors like Tom Brady and Salesforce Ventures who came aboard earlier this year, and today I’m honored to announce that SoftBank has joined us by leading a game changing $100 million investment to scale Class around the world.

This investment comes at a time when the global education system is recovering from the pandemic at different rates. There are parts of the world that are struggling to gain access to vaccines and are still in the throes of the COVID-19 crisis. Closer to home, many schools are returning to in-person learning while simultaneously reimagining or redesigning hybrid and virtual learning models. Everywhere it’s clear, education has changed forever.

Disruption and challenges stemming from the pandemic are real, but so is the opportunity to change the way people teach and learn online. Class is dedicated to doing exactly that, and we’re working to deliver Class to every corner of the world.

As we expand globally, we’re committed to delivering Class to some of the most disadvantaged and hard to reach populations in the world. Our team is honored to bring the age of digital education to those who need it most.  

We’re working to change the way the world learns and we can’t wait to welcome the whole world to Class.

If you’re interested in adding teaching and learning tools to Zoom, please schedule a demo with us.

About Michael
Michael Chasen is the co-founder and CEO of Class. He is an entrepreneur who has dedicated his career to improving the way people live and learn through technology. Chasen also served as co-founder and CEO of Blackboard Inc., a pioneering edtech company with software used by over 20,000 institutions and millions of instructors and learners worldwide.