SAN FRANCISCO- Swing Education, an online marketplace that connects schools and substitute teachers, today announced $38 million in Series C funding. The funding round was led by funds advised by Apax Partners LLP (“Apax”), a leading global private equity advisory firm, and by an education technology investment firm Reach the capital. The funding allows Swing Education to invest in its growth and better address the national shortage of substitute teachers.
This funding follows a 2018 Series B funding co-led by VG (formerly Google Ventures) and Owl Ventures and a funding round from a consortium that included Social Capital, Kapor Capital, Moment Ventures, Ulu Ventures, Red House Education and Edovate Capital.
Swing believes that every classroom deserves a teacher and every student deserves uninterrupted learning. Since its inception in 2015, Swing has strived to improve the substitute teacher experience and has made it easier to grow and manage their supply teacher pools for K-12 schools. Swing currently works with over 2,800 partner schools, and in the 2022-2023 school year, helped those schools complete over 1 million teaching hours with substitute teachers.
Teaching vacancies are a constant challenge for school administrators, with 45% of public schools operate without full teaching staff at the start of the 2022-2023 school year. While school leaders recognize the need for substitute teachers, improving processes around substitute teaching and investing in programs and tools that support substitute wellbeing are often not priorities. Swing aims to fill this gap. By combining dedicated success teams and a comprehensive technology platform, Swing ensures that replacements are treated better, which, in turn, attracts more people to the profession.
“We are delighted to have Apax Partners and Reach Capital as strategic investors,” said Mike Teng, CEO of Swing Education. “The need for substitute teachers is crying out. This additional funding highlights the current pressure on our schools and allows Swing to increase its impact, placing even more substitute teachers in even more classrooms.
“Swing Education is a truly impactful company, bringing much-needed digitalization to the substitute teacher staffing market and making it easier and more efficient to match talent with schools,” said David Su, Partner, Apax Global Impact. “We are extremely excited to partner with Mike and the entire team to help grow the business and implement our shared vision for the business.”
“Beyond broadening and diversifying talent pools, Swing’s distinct market model provides upskilling opportunities and opens up innovative pathways into the teaching profession,” said Steve Kupfer, Venture Partner at Reach Capital. . “Each of these goals aligns with our mission as investors in education. We are excited to support the Swing team through this next stage of growth.
“Even before the pandemic amplified, the teacher shortage in the United States profoundly affected the K-12 education system. Under the visionary leadership of Mike and Asha, Swing Education has established a transformative way for K-12 schools and substitute teachers to connect,” said Amit A. Patel, CEO of Owl Ventures. “Their technology platform has harnessed the power of data to enable seamless matching between teacher absences and qualified replacements, as well as to ensure uninterrupted student learning.”
Swing currently operates in California, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Washington, DC and will use this latest round of funding to expand its surrogates and school partners in those regions. Swing will look to expand to new regions in 2024.
About Apax Partners
Apax Partners LLP (“Apax”) is one of the world’s leading private equity advisory firms. For 50 years, Apax has worked to inspire growth and ideas that transform businesses. The firm has raised and advised funds with total commitments of over $60 billion. Apax funds invest in companies in four global sectors of technology, services, healthcare and internet/consumer. These funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class businesses.
Apax Global Impact is looking for opportunities to support companies that have a tangible societal and/or environmental impact. The strategy revolves around themes such as health and well-being, environment and resources, social and economic mobility and enablers of digital impact. Apax Global Impact leverages the deep expertise of Apax’s industry teams, the strength and global reach of the Apax global platform, and the value creation potential of the operational excellence practice of ‘Apax. For more information on Apax, go to www.apax.com.
About Reach Capital
Reach Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on education and workforce development. Our investments expand access to education and economic opportunity and inspire people to reach their full potential. As one of the most diverse venture capital firms with over 20 years of classroom teaching experience on the team, Reach Capital has backed over 130 education ventures, including many of the biggest and best-loved brands in early childhood, K-12, higher education and lifelong learning. Learn more about www.reachcapital.com.
About Owl Ventures
Owl Ventures is the world’s largest venture capital fund focused on the education technology market with over $2.2 billion in assets under management. The Silicon Valley-based firm invests in the world’s leading education technology companies across the education spectrum encompassing PreK-12, higher education and the future of work (career mobility/professional learning ). Owl Ventures has deep domain expertise and leverages a global network of sponsors, investors and strategic partners to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses into leading transformative businesses. For more details on Owl Ventures, please visit www.OwlVC.com.
About Swing Education
Swing Education is an online recruitment marketplace that connects substitute teachers with schools. Founded in 2015 by former K-12 educators and administrators, Swing makes it easier for schools and districts to find reliable, qualified substitute teachers when they need them most. With over 300,000 days of absence filled to date, Swing is dedicated to improving the experience of finding substitute teachers, becoming a substitute, and keeping student learning on track. Swing serves more than 2,800 partner schools across California, Arizona, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, New York, and Washington D.C. To learn more about Swing Education, visit www.SwingEducation.com.
eSchool Media staff cover all aspects of education technology, from legislation and litigation to best practices, lessons learned and new products. First published in March 1998 as a monthly print and digital journal, eSchool Media provides the news and information needed to help K-20 decision-makers successfully use technology and innovation to transform schools and colleges and achieve their educational goals.