The Rise Fund is a global impact fund dedicated to helping achieve positive and significant social and environmental impact, alongside competitive financial returns. By partnering with creative entrepreneurs and building successful businesses, it seeks to empower meaningful, measurable and positive change wherever possible.
Recently, The Rise Fund, whose backers include Bono and TPG, made a substantial investment in DreamBox Learning - an adaptive, online and forward-thinking K-8 math program that itself is committed to raising student achievement, informed decision making and critical thinking among the younger generations of students.
DreamBox was originally founded in 2006 by serial entrepreneur Lou Gray and Microsoft employee Ben Slivka. It was later acquired by Charter School Growth Fund in 2010. The Company has raised capital through a series of funding rounds. The first was a Series A round led by Reed Hastings and John Doerr announced in December 2013 and brought in $14.5 million.
DreamBox was founded on the idea that children excel in learning when they are engaged, challenged and having fun. However, teachers also need support for differentiating instruction to a broad range of learners. That's part of the reason why DreamBox has long been a supporter of technologies like Intelligent Adaptive Learning, among others.
At the end of July 2018, the company received additional funding from The Rise Fund that takes the form of a $130 million investment - the fund's largest education investment to date. In addition to bringing The Rise Fund’s position to a majority stake, the investment will enable the Company to create more holistic, intimate and personal educational experiences for students all over the world.
DreamBox is used by almost three million students and 120,000 teachers in the United States and Canada and has plans to continue its recent expansion into Mexico and other countries.
