Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is making his first known investment in a startup, a firm called Panorama Education that uses data analysis to attempt to improve education.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based Panorama announced Monday that it raised $4 million in seed funding led by Zuckerberg's Startup:Education fund. Other investors include Jeff Clavier’s SoftTech VC, Google Ventures, Ashton Kutcher's A-Grade Investments and Yale University.
[seealso slug="mark-zuckerberg-net-worth"]
Panorama claims to be the only company providing a survey and analytics platform specifically designed for K-12 schools. The company applies "data-driven solutions" to educational issues. The platform is being used in more than 4,000 schools serving more than 1 million students.
Aaron Feuer co-founded the company while still an undergrad at Yale. “Our schools weren’t using feedback from teachers, parents, and students effectively," he said in the press release. "There was a missed opportunity to understand everyone's experiences and learn what wasn't working. This data is extremely important when addressing issues such as parent involvement, bullying prevention, school safety and student engagement."
Zuckerberg founded Startup: Education in 2010 with $100 million dedicated to improving education in Newark, N.J., and the rest of the country. A Facebook rep told AllThingsD that the current investment is separate from that $100 million.