Dive Brief:

• MasteryConnect brought in $5 million from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan as part of a Series B funding round that increased the company’s total funding to $29 million.
• The startup designs and sells tools to allow teachers to develop and monitor personalized learning plans for their students.
• So far, the company has 1,800 customers, which can include individual schools or districts, and it says it has reached 2 million teachers.

Dive Insight:

Private investors have put big money behind personalized learning startups and the approach has gained a higher profile. One emerging trend is personalized learning experiences designed not by a teacher, but by artificial intelligence. Examples of that include Knewton’s recent release of its “robot” tutor and McGraw-Hill’s AI-driven approach. MasteryConnect is focused more on simplifying the process for teachers to plan their own lessons and support for individual students. 

“Teachers are using us to measure and see where students are at before and after they teach,” MasteryConnect CEO Cory Reid said. “That way, they can assign the right practice materials or change how they’re teaching.”