The funding follows a groundbreaking year in which the company introduced four new for-credit courses, grew its executive team, signed a 5-year partnership with The University of Pittsburgh and Pitt-Johnstown, and continued to produce unprecedented student outcomes.
Outlier.org, an online education platform working to increase access to quality college education and reduce student debt, announced $30 million Series B funding led by GV. This funding round also includes participation from Unusual Ventures, existing investors GSV and Harrison Metal, as well as Gaingels, an investment syndicate in service of the LGBTQ+ community, and a group of underrepresented angel investors. The company has raised a total of $46 million to date.
For $400, around one-sixth the cost of a traditional college course, Outlier.org students enjoy a world-class learning experience that earns them transferable college credit. Courses use cutting-edge learning techniques, including adopting innovations from educational psychology research and game design. Cinema-quality lectures are taught by some of the brightest figures in academia, including instructors from Yale, Harvard, MIT, and Columbia.
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The company currently offers a catalog of six college courses, ranging from Calculus I and Microeconomics to Astronomy and Philosophy. Outlier.org will use the new funding to release 14 more courses by the end of 2022, enabling students to complete their first 2 years of college for a fraction of the traditional cost, and give partners like universities and employers more ways to support students on their path to a degree. Outlier.org students continue to achieve a C grade or better at a rate that matches that of in-person students.
“Every student deserves to have access to the highest quality college education without taking on massive debt, and our investors share our vision of making this an opportunity for anyone who wants it,” said Aaron Rasmussen, CEO and founder of Outlier.org. “We have the way, and now we have the means to make accessible college a reality. We are excited to have GV as our partner in creating the world’s most effective, affordable, and scalable online college courses.”
“We’re inspired by Outlier.org’s mission to increase educational access and equity, and to reduce student debt,” said John Lyman, Partner at GV. “We strongly believe in Aaron Rasmussen and the founding team’s vision to provide better access to more affordable education for hundreds of millions of students around the globe.”
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In keeping with its mission to increase access to quality college education, Outlier.org recently launched a new payment option with Klarna to introduce zero-interest financing. When students enroll in courses on Outlier.org, they can now choose Klarna’s ‘Monthly Financing’ option, which enables them to take a full semester of four courses for a total of just $89 per month over 18 months. Outlier.org is proud to cover 100% of the interest payments that students would normally incur, with no hidden fees or penalties for late payments.
The company also recently hired Anjuli Gupta, a former Coursera executive, as Head of Partnerships, where she will work to expand Outlier.org’s network of partners. New partnerships will enable higher education institutions, high schools, and even employers to help students open new doors to college degrees. Gupta previously worked as the Director of University Partnerships for Coursera, where she managed a team that oversaw a portfolio of US and Canadian partners.
Last year, Outlier.org and the University of Pittsburgh expanded their partnership with a five-year agreement whereby the faculty at University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown provide oversight of courses, and Outlier.org students continue to earn transferable college credits from the University of Pittsburgh.
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