Labster, the world’s leading platform for virtual labs and interactive science, has raised $47 million in additional funding to support massive growth opportunities worldwide.
The capital tranche saw the paticaption from new investors Sofina Group and Pirate Impact, along with existing investors, including Owl Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, EduCapital, NPF Technologies, and GGV Capital.
With the new financing, the Copenhagen-based startup plans to further develop in Europe and the United States and to establish itself within Asia and Latin America. By investing more funds into its library of science simulations and expanding its reach to younger students and adult workforce skills training, Labster will be able to serve 100 million students around the world through its institutional and government partnerships.
Co-founded by Michael Bodekaer Jensen and Mads Bonde, Labster is dedicated to developing fully interactive virtual training simulations that are designed to enhance traditional learning outcomes by stimulating students’ natural curiosity and reinforcing the connection between science and the real world. The simulations can be used in a variety of different ways, from a full lab replacement to a supplemental learning activity. It makes an educator’s job easier, integrating with the most popular LMS (learning management system) platforms and freeing up their time by automatically grading quiz questions and providing them with a dashboard of student performance data.
Labster is on a mission to create a revolutionary, engaging, and accessible STEM learning experience that is globally scalable, to accelerate science teaching experience and learning outcomes by continuously upgrading the education platform.
Speaking about the capital raised, Co-founder and CEO of Labster, Michael Bodekaer Jensen, said,
“Labster’s mission is to provide all students, regardless of socioeconomic status or geographic location, with equitable access to high-quality engaging science education and virtual laboratories — an ongoing critical need accelerated by the pandemic and now rapidly growing globally as digitalization of the education sector with hybrid and remote learning continues.”
Jensen further added:
“This additional funding will help us to continue growing our support for a broader group of students, teachers, and educational institutions around the world to make our mission a reality. There has been a fundamental change in the nature of education over the last two years that confirms the high value and impact on student engagement and learning outcomes of virtual educational simulations offered in tandem with in-person, teacher-led coursework in a post-pandemic world.”
To ensure that every student has access to high-quality science education, Labster supports and engages all learners by offering popular simulations in multiple languages, featuring diverse characters on screen, and accommodating hearing and visual impairments.
Over 5 million students in high schools and universities have used Labster to perform realistic experiments, learn key science concepts, and practice their skills in a risk-free learning environment. Labster’s 350-plus team members from over 30 countries are passionate about improving science learning, resulting in collaborations with over 3,000 leading educational institutions.
Commenting on the latest development, Investment Manager of Sofina Group, Bertrand Fawe, said,
“As a contributor to sustainable development, Sofina is proud to support Labster’s vision of empowering millions of students with an engaging STEM learning experience. The use of immersive virtual reality technology will continue to play a growing role in the delivery of education.”
The virtual science labs have been used by California State University, Harvard, Gwinnett Technical College, MIT, Exeter University, University of New Haven, Stanford, University of New England, Trinity College, University of Hong Kong and Berkeley, among others internationally.
Last year in February, Labster had raised $60 million in its Series C funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from existing investors GGV Capital, Owl Ventures, Balderton Capital, David Helgason, founder of Unity Technologies, Northzone, Swisscom Ventures, and EduCapital. The startup’s latest funding brings its total raised to $147 million.
