Gaia Learning, an EdTech company based in the North West of England, has recently raised $720,000 (£550,000) in venture capital funding, marking its most significant investment. The round was led by Nesta Impact Investments, with additional funding from Manchester-based GC Angels.
Founded in 2019, Gaia Learning has grown from a small, specialised tuition service to an award-winning online school. It is a Cambridge Registered International School Online and the first online provider to receive the ADHD Friendly School award from the ADHD Foundation in 2023. It offers live online classes tailored to neurodivergent students aged 8-16, including those with ADHD and autism. It collaborates with schools and multi-academy trusts to provide online advanced placement. When schools struggle to engage young people, the firm works with them to develop an online timetable tailored to existing schools or other settings.
Kate Longworth, CEO of Gaia Learning, expressed her enthusiasm for the new investment, stating:
We’re so pleased to have our new investment partners on board and them acknowledging the potential in all we do at Gaia Learning to help school partners, learners and their families. We have tripled our learners this academic year, grown our team to 12 staff members and seen huge demand from children struggling in mainstream education. Now, more than ever, schools need flexible, digital solutions that can scale within budget, supporting each neurodivergent child’s needs.
Gaia Learning understands that teaching neurodivergent learners goes far beyond academics. Its approach empowers these learners to understand and work with their neurodivergence rather than feeling forced to conform to systems that don’t fit their unique ways of thinking and processing. It has a range of readymade courses and online programmes designed to support neurodivergent young people and help those with additional needs to thrive. Its homeschooling programmes for children are designed to be fun, flexible, and perfect for neurodivergent learners. For children aged 8-11, the courses balance parental involvement and growing independence, encouraging them to explore their interests in a supportive and engaging environment. For those aged 11-14, it helps learners develop greater autonomy, allowing them to delve deeper into the subjects they love while building confidence in self-directed learning.
Lisa Barclay, Executive Director of Investments at Nesta, commented on the decision to back Gaia Learning:
We backed Gaia Learning as both a promising high-growth business and as a solution to tackle the acute gap between education outcomes of students with special educational needs and the average. At a national level, students with an Education Health and Care Plan, who Gaia Learning typically supports, have outcomes at GCSE eight times worse than the average. One of Nesta’s key focus areas is to narrow the education attainment gap, and Gaia Learning provides a compelling solution to tackle this.
With this investment round, the startup plans to support its ability to provide online educational support for neurodivergent children across the UK. The funding will also facilitate its expansion nationally and internationally.
