Brightwheel graduates with $21M Series B as the leading software provider in early education
By Tim Young, Founding General Partner
Today, Dave Vasen, Founder and CEO of Brightwheel announced the close of their Series B, a $21 million round led by our friends at Bessemer. We couldn’t more excited to see Brightwheel in its current position as the leading software provider in early education.
We met Dave in the very early days. He was a team of one, had a basic product and five preschool customers. He had a big vision and as an early founder, Dave’s passion for the space and building a business was tangible.
When we looked at the market, we saw the desperate need for what he was building — software to help daycare, preschools, and early education operate and manage the back of the house and an app to inform and engage with parents.
Brightwheel set itself apart early aiming to disrupt the traditional paper-driven or clunky, fragmented software workflow that is still used across early education while also freeing up teacher’s time to spend with the children. Parents love it because it allows them to receive real-time information throughout the day so they feel more connected to their children’s lives and they know the quality of care.
It was a win-win-win as a product and coupled with Dave’s vision and the expansive market opportunity, it was clear we wanted to lead their Seed round.
From an investor perspective, at Eniac, we’ve always believed in vertical SaaS markets that are underserved by technology and software, and since, Dave has proven us right. We’ve been taken back by the market adoption and the substantial growth that Brightwheel has seen in the past four years. They are now the de facto software layer in the early-education industry.
Even more, is the impressive team Dave has carefully built — in the Bay Area and now Colorado (and currently hiring). Brightwheel has attracted a phenomenal team of engineers, execs, designers, and continued to build a gorgeous product that has significantly improved the lives of parents teachers and students.
The exciting product has caught the attention of some major investors — In 2016, Dave was featured on ABC’s Shark Tank and quickly caught the attention of Mark Cuban and Chris Sacca, who joined the investor team. Just recently, they featured a Brightwheel update, showcasing the company’s fast-growth. (Watch the clip of Chris Sacca and Mark Cuban fighting over Brightwheel and the 2018 update here.)
The Eniac team has been incredibly excited and humbled to see Dave’s vision go from five schools to now more than 25,000, with a team of 60. We couldn’t be more proud of Dave and the entire team continuing to build one of the strongest early education companies and are excited to be a part of the journey.
Read what Dave has to say about his journey building Brightwheel.
