Knewton Raises $6 Million Round of Funding Led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Accel Partners

Series B Financing Fuels Market Expansion to Meet Growing Demand for Adaptive
Learning Engine and Online Test Prep Services
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
Knewton (www.knewton.com), a leading online educational company, today announced
it has closed a $6 million Series B round of funding. Bessemer Venture Partners
is leading this round alongside returning investors Accel Partners, First Round
Capital, and angel investors such as Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn Founder & CEO) and
Peter Stern (Datek Co-Founder & CTO).

Knewton`s new financing will accelerate expansion to meet the surging enterprise
demand for its adaptive learning engine and rapid consumer growth in its online
test prep services. The new round will fund further development of Knewton`s
open platform-designed to bring adaptive testing, adaptive learning, and
concept-level reporting to any third-party educational content.

"Knewton is one of the most interesting, and potentially revolutionary,
educational technologies we`ve encountered," said Rob Stavis, a partner at
Bessemer and a three-time member of the Forbes Midas List. "We are excited to
help Knewton cement its position as the leader in adaptive learning and online
test prep."

Simon Levene from Accel Partners said: "Since we invested a year ago, Knewton`s
growth and achievements have been remarkable. It`s a testament to the
exceptional team, disruptive business model, and strong execution. Students and
educators have already found great value in the service, and we`re pleased to
help deliver it to an even wider audience."

Knewton recently unveiled LSAT and GMAT preparation courses powered by the
company`s proprietary adaptive learning engine. The algorithms behind Knewton`s
platform identify the strengths and weaknesses of each student`s skills at the
concept level, then dynamically customize content to match his or her precise
knowledge gaps and learning style. Knewton`s direct-to-consumer test prep
classes are taught by industry leading "Master Teachers" in an online video
classroom and then archived for on-demand review. Live office hours provide
students further time with instructors. Student score improvements to date have
been so dramatic that Knewton offers a money-back guarantee of at least 50
points on the GMAT and at least 5 points on the LSAT.

"Educational content is just beginning a massive, one-time shift to digital
distribution, just as news, music, and video have already experienced," said
Jose Ferreira, CEO of Knewton. "We think Knewton will emerge as the platform
that powers this new era of online education; more importantly, customers and
investors seem to think so as well."

Education industry experts are closely following Knewton`s development.
"Knewton's adaptive learning engine is the most innovative educational
technology I've ever seen," said Greg Rorke, former CEO of Kaplan, Inc. "They
are going to revolutionize not just the test prep industry, but possibly the
entire practice of education."

About Knewton

Knewton has developed the industry`s most powerful adaptive learning engine,
customizing educational content to meet the individual needs of each student.
Whereas textbooks and other traditional content vehicles provide the same
material in the same order to every student, Knewton dynamically matches
lessons, videos, and practice problems to each student's ideal learning arc.
Constant assessment across dimensions such as difficulty, frequency, and media
maximizes learning efficiency and concept mastery. Knewton's test prep courses
for the GMAT, LSAT, SAT, and GRE bring the brightest and most experienced
teachers directly to students worldwide via a live and on-demand online video
classroom. The Knewton platform also powers third-party educational content from
major publishers, corporations, and other organizations. Knewton was founded by
Jose Ferreira, a former Kaplan executive, with Series A funding from Accel
Partners and First Round Capital and angel investors including Ron Conway and
Reid Hoffman. http://www.knewton.com

About Bessemer Venture Partners

Bessemer Venture Partners is a global investment group with offices in Silicon
Valley, Boston, New York, Bangalore, Mumbai, Beijing, and Tel Aviv. As the
oldest venture capital practice in the United States, BVP has partnered as an
active, hands-on investor in Ciena, Ingersoll Rand, Parametric, Skype, Staples,
VeriSign, and W.R. Grace, among many others. More than 100 BVP-funded companies
have gone public on exchanges in Canada, India, London, and the United States.
http://www.bvp.com/

About Accel Partners

Founded in 1983, Accel Partners has a long history of excellence and innovation
in the venture capital business and is dedicated to partnering with outstanding
entrepreneurs and management teams to build world-class companies. Accel today
invests globally using dedicated teams and market-specific strategies for local
geographies, with offices in Palo Alto, California; London, UK; and Bangalore,
India; as well as in China via the IDG-Accel Partnership. With over $6 billion
under management, Accel has helped entrepreneurs build over 300 successful
category-defining companies including: ComScore, Facebook, GlamMedia,
Interwoven, Kayak, Macromedia, Polycom/PictureTel, Real Networks, UUNet,
Walmart.com, and XenSource. http://www.accel.com

About First Round Capital

First Round Capital is a seed-stage venture capital firm dedicated to helping
talented entrepreneurs build remarkable companies. First Round Capital typically
funds pre-revenue companies-and often provides a company's first outside
capital. The firm has invested in over 75 early stage companies.
http://www.firstround.com/

Atomic PR
Sara Long, 415-402-0230
sara@atomicpr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009