Minerva Project Valuation, Funding & Investors

Minerva Project is valued at $689M as of July 2019.

Last Minerva Project valuation

$689M

Series C · Jul 2019

Last Minerva Project funding round

$3M

Seed · Sep 2022

Cumulative funding Minerva Project raised

$155M

across 4 funding rounds

Key investors in Minerva Project

Minerva Project Overview

About Minerva Project

Minerva Project is a San Francisco-based education technology company, founded in 2012 by Ben Nelson, that set out to reinvent higher education. It operates two entities: the for-profit Minerva Project, which develops the Forum online curriculum and video platform for interactive small-group teaching, and the nonprofit Minerva Schools at KGI, which delivers accredited undergraduate and master's programs to around 630 students. Forum has been sold to other universities and corporations since 2018, combining live interactive seminars with tools that let instructors break large classes into small discussion groups.


Founded

2011

HQ

United StatesUnited States

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2C

Revenue model

Subscription

Valuation

$689M (Jul 2019)

Minerva Project Valuation

Minerva Project is currently valued at $689M, based on its Series C in July 2019.

The $57M round was led by ByteDance, with participation from Yongjin Group, Lighthouse Combined Investment, Sunghwan Choi, Kakao Ventures, TAL Education and 2 other investors.

Minerva Project's valuation has grown 2.0x from $344M at its Series B in October 2014 to $689M in July 2019, across 2 priced rounds.

Minerva Project valuation by funding round

Minerva Project valuation by funding round
DateStageValuation
Jul 2019Series C$689M
Oct 2014Series B$344M

Minerva Project Funding History

Minerva Project has raised a total of $155M across 4 funding rounds.

Minerva Project's first fundraising round was a $45M Series B in October 2014. The most recent completed round was a $3M seed round in September 2022.

Minerva Project funding rounds

Minerva Project funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedValuationDeal Summary
Sep 2022Seed-$3M--
Jul 2019Series CByteDance (lead); Yongjin Group; Lighthouse Combined Investment; Sunghwan Choi; Kakao Ventures; TAL Education; Pinpoint Ventures; Tan Tan Ventures$57M$689MMinerva Project, a San Francisco-based edtech company founded in 2012, raised $57 million in its Series C funding round on July 11, 2019, led by ByteDance with participation from TAL Education Group, Yongjin Group, Pinpoint Ventures, Kakao Ventures, Tan Tan Ventures, Lighthouse Combined Investment, and others. This brought total capital raised to over $128 million across prior rounds including a Series B partially funded by TAL and a seed from Benchmark Capital. The post-money valuation for this Series C was $689.39 million. The funding supports expansion of Minerva's technology platform, Forum, which includes curriculum, pedagogy, video tools for interactive small-group discussions, and faculty training, sold to universities and corporations beyond its nonprofit Minerva Schools at KGI serving about 630 students. ByteDance's CEO Zhang Yiming and Teach for All founder Wendy Kopp joined the board, with over half the proceeds allocated to developing and selling Forum, particularly leveraging Asian investor interest in AI-linked education. Minerva aims to improve educational outcomes through partnerships, noting stronger traction internationally, especially in Asia and China, where investors recognize education's potential. The company operates a for-profit entity developing tools tested in its nonprofit undergraduate and master's programs.
Aug 2018Series CByteDance (lead)$50M-Minerva Project is an education technology company founded in 2012 based in San Francisco that aims to reinvent higher education. The company operates two main entities: the for-profit Minerva Project, which develops technology and tools, and the nonprofit Minerva Schools at KGI, which offers accredited undergraduate and master's programs serving approximately 630 students. The company's primary product offering is Forum, an online curriculum and technology platform that includes video tools for student interaction and allows instructors to break large classes into small-group discussions of up to 12 students. The platform was launched for sale to other educational institutions beginning in 2018. In its Series C funding round on July 11, 2019, Minerva Project raised $57 million led by ByteDance, the Chinese technology company behind TikTok, with participation from existing investors TAL Education Group and Yongjin Group, plus new investors including Pinpoint Ventures, Kakao Ventures, Tan Tan Ventures, and Lighthouse Combined from Korea. The company stated that more than half of the $57 million would support continued development and sale of its Forum platform. ByteDance founder and CEO Zhang Yiming joined Minerva's board of directors, along with Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach For America. By the time of the Series C announcement, Minerva had raised over $128 million in total venture capital. The company's CEO noted that the platform had greater traction at international universities than in the United States, with particularly strong investor interest from Asia reflecting recognition of the interconnection between artificial intelligence and education.
Oct 2014Series BTAL Education (lead); ZhenFund; Learn Capital; Yongjin Group; Benchmark$45M$344MMinerva Project is an educational innovator founded in 2012 by Ben Nelson, aiming to reinvent higher education by delivering Ivy League-quality classes remotely via a bespoke video platform, with students living in cities worldwide. The model combines live interactive online seminars and experiential learning, with total costs under $30,000 per year including housing and food. Its first undergraduate class of 29 students from 2,464 applicants began in Fall 2014. The specified Series B round, announced around October 15, 2014, targeted $70 million total, with 70% ($49 million) closed initially, led by TAL Education Group (NYSE: TAL), ZhenFund, and Yongjin Group, alongside returning seed investor Benchmark Capital and Learn Capital. TAL's involvement aligns with its mission at the intersection of education and technology, aiming to connect top Chinese students with innovative US learning perspectives. A TAL representative joined the board. Funds were earmarked to scale Minerva Schools at KGI (Keck Graduate Institute), enhancing accreditation, faculty hiring, and global accessibility. Prior to this, Minerva raised $25 million in seed funding in 2012 from Benchmark Capital. By completion in early 2015, total funding would approach $100 million, though the company remained pre-revenue and not self-sustaining at the time. Later rounds included a $57 million Series C in 2019 led by ByteDance, bringing total capital over $128 million, shifting toward partnerships with universities and corporations using Minerva's IP in curriculum, pedagogy, and tech platform.

Who has invested in Minerva Project?

11 investors have backed Minerva Project across its funding rounds, including TAL Education, ByteDance, Yongjin Group, ZhenFund, Kakao Ventures and Benchmark.

Lead investors include ByteDance and TAL Education.


Minerva Project Investors

Investors in Minerva Project by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
Yongjin GroupChinaBeijing2ParticipantOct 2014
ByteDanceChinaBeijing2LeadAug 2018
TAL EducationChinaBeijing2LeadOct 2014
ZhenFundChinaBeijing1ParticipantOct 2014
Learn CapitalUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1ParticipantOct 2014
Lighthouse Combined InvestmentSouth KoreaSouth Korea1ParticipantJul 2019
Sunghwan ChoiSouth KoreaSeoul1ParticipantJul 2019
Kakao VenturesSouth KoreaSeongnam1ParticipantJul 2019
BenchmarkUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1ParticipantOct 2014

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Minerva Project Competitors

Minerva Project competitors include listed companies like Stadio Holdings, China Education and Scholastic, and private ones like Hotchalk, Scaler Academy and Passage.

Public and private companies comparable to Minerva Project
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
HotchalkUnited StatesSan Jose, CAPrivate--$700M-
Scaler AcademyIndiaBangalorePrivate$110M-$710M6.5x
Stadio HoldingsSouth AfricaSouth AfricaPublicly listed$113M$34M$713M5.8x
PassageCanadaTorontoPrivate--$657M-
China EducationChinaChinaPublicly listed$1.1B$342M$654M1.6x
ScholasticUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$1.6B$180M$653M0.6x

Minerva Project Public Comps

Minerva Project is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Stadio Holdings, China Education, Scholastic, Lincoln Educational Services, Jiangsu Chuanzhiboke, Gaotu Techedu, YDUQS, Taaleem Holdings, Ataa Educational and Cogna Educação.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Stadio Holdings$113M$34M6.4x5.8x21.3x19.2x
China Education$1.1B$342M1.6x1.6x5.1x3.1x
Scholastic$1.6B$180M0.6x0.6x5.0x6.1x
Lincoln Educational Services$518M$49M1.9x1.7x20.4x13.3x
Jiangsu Chuanzhiboke$57M($7M)8.9x6.3x(67.8x)-
Gaotu Techedu$917M($38M)0.2x0.2x(4.3x)(33.7x)
YDUQS$1.1B$310M1.3x1.2x4.3x3.7x
Taaleem Holdings$295M$84M4.4x3.6x15.4x14.3x

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Common questions about Minerva Project

When was Minerva Project founded?Minerva Project was founded in 2011.
Where is Minerva Project headquartered?Minerva Project is headquartered in United States.
Is Minerva Project publicly listed?No, Minerva Project is a private, VC-backed company.
What is Minerva Project's valuation?Minerva Project was last valued at $689M in its Series C in July 2019.
How much funding has Minerva Project raised?Minerva Project has raised $155M across 4 funding rounds.
What was Minerva Project's last funding round?Minerva Project's last funding round was a $3M seed round in September 2022.
Who are Minerva Project's investors?Minerva Project's investors include Yongjin Group, ByteDance, TAL Education, ZhenFund, Learn Capital, Lighthouse Combined Investment, Sunghwan Choi, Kakao Ventures, Benchmark, Pinpoint Ventures and 1 other.
Which companies are comparable to Minerva Project?Companies comparable to Minerva Project include Hotchalk, Scaler Academy, Stadio Holdings, Passage, China Education and Scholastic.

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