NAPLES DAILY NEWS: oCTOBER 16, 2014
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The Tamiami Angel Fund II (T2) announced a $330,000 investment in MassiveU, a Naples-based education technology company.
MassiveU, which started as the world’s first mobile MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), is accelerating its growth as a project-based, social learning Platform-As-A-Service (PLAAS) company. The company works with content providers, publishers and school district leaders to deliver learning solutions that help students prepare for college and careers.
MassiveU is honored to be a part of the type of high-potential, accelerated growth companies sought by T2 and its members, which include former executives of major national and global corporations. By supporting MassiveU’s Southwest Florida entrepreneurs, T2 is helping talented individuals grow education technology companies quickly and meet the needs of online learners today and in the future.
With the latest round of $330,000 in funds – plus an additional $370,000 from a complementary group of investors with an interest in education technology, as well as initial funding from the Tamiami Angel Fund I – T2, as lead investor, has raised more than $1.08 million for MassiveU.
“T2 sees MassiveU as a strong business entity that can make a real difference in terms of 21st century skills development for students,” said Don Kiernan, a Tamiami Angel Fund II member and MassiveU board member. “MassiveU is going to enhance the learning process in the country and worldwide.”
MassiveU was founded in 2012 by Angelo Biasi, a former New York University educator, and started generating revenue in April 2013. Today, MassiveU utilizes best-in-class technologies to support competency-based learning and 21st century skills.
T2 has been involved with MassiveU since the company’s early stages, working with Biasi from the development of his idea for a mobile-first learning solution to providing mentoring and funding.
Timothy Cartwright, chairman of T2, said, “MassiveU is the perfect combination of a passionate founder with a technology-enabled idea, an experienced management team with a previous exit, and a solution to a real problem inside a large marketplace.”
“Not only does the Tamiami Angel Fund’s investment support local entrepreneurs and job growth, it also supports the education of students in Southwest Florida and beyond,” said Biasi. “With the investment, the resources and the mentorship from T2 into MassiveU, we’re experiencing how early-stage investing can transform our Southwest Florida communities.”
The most recent funding enables MassiveU to create a full-time management team of five highly qualified individuals, including John Gamba, a new director of MassiveU and a Tamiami Angel Fund II member. Gamba has founded, funded and managed five internet companies in his 20-year career. Less than eight years after co-founding PACE – the Partnership for Academic and Community Excellence, a school-to-home telecommunications network that connected thousands of K-12 schools to millions of families in all 50 states – PACE was purchased by NTI Group Inc. and then sold to Blackboard Inc. for $182 million.
“MassiveU will also use the investment capital to further build out its technical platform to execute large opportunities with publishers and content providers in Latin America and other countries,” Biasi said.
For more information, visit www.massiveu.com.
Tamiami Angel Fund I & II LLC is a member-managed Florida Limited Liability Company designed to enable private accredited investors to actively participate in a disciplined investment process to fund promising early-stage through expansion-stage commercial ventures located in the U.S., with a preference to those in the state of Florida. The Fund is a member of the Angel Capital Association and the Florida Venture Forum. For more information, visit www.tamiamiangels.com.
MassiveU, which started as the world’s first mobile MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), is accelerating its growth as a project-based, social learning Platform-As-A-Service (PLAAS) company. The company works with content providers, publishers and school district leaders to deliver learning solutions that help students prepare for college and careers.
MassiveU is honored to be a part of the type of high-potential, accelerated growth companies sought by T2 and its members, which include former executives of major national and global corporations. By supporting MassiveU’s Southwest Florida entrepreneurs, T2 is helping talented individuals grow education technology companies quickly and meet the needs of online learners today and in the future.
With the latest round of $330,000 in funds – plus an additional $370,000 from a complementary group of investors with an interest in education technology, as well as initial funding from the Tamiami Angel Fund I – T2, as lead investor, has raised more than $1.08 million for MassiveU.
“T2 sees MassiveU as a strong business entity that can make a real difference in terms of 21st century skills development for students,” said Don Kiernan, a Tamiami Angel Fund II member and MassiveU board member. “MassiveU is going to enhance the learning process in the country and worldwide.”
MassiveU was founded in 2012 by Angelo Biasi, a former New York University educator, and started generating revenue in April 2013. Today, MassiveU utilizes best-in-class technologies to support competency-based learning and 21st century skills.
T2 has been involved with MassiveU since the company’s early stages, working with Biasi from the development of his idea for a mobile-first learning solution to providing mentoring and funding.
Timothy Cartwright, chairman of T2, said, “MassiveU is the perfect combination of a passionate founder with a technology-enabled idea, an experienced management team with a previous exit, and a solution to a real problem inside a large marketplace.”
“Not only does the Tamiami Angel Fund’s investment support local entrepreneurs and job growth, it also supports the education of students in Southwest Florida and beyond,” said Biasi. “With the investment, the resources and the mentorship from T2 into MassiveU, we’re experiencing how early-stage investing can transform our Southwest Florida communities.”
The most recent funding enables MassiveU to create a full-time management team of five highly qualified individuals, including John Gamba, a new director of MassiveU and a Tamiami Angel Fund II member. Gamba has founded, funded and managed five internet companies in his 20-year career. Less than eight years after co-founding PACE – the Partnership for Academic and Community Excellence, a school-to-home telecommunications network that connected thousands of K-12 schools to millions of families in all 50 states – PACE was purchased by NTI Group Inc. and then sold to Blackboard Inc. for $182 million.
“MassiveU will also use the investment capital to further build out its technical platform to execute large opportunities with publishers and content providers in Latin America and other countries,” Biasi said.
For more information, visit www.massiveu.com.
Tamiami Angel Fund I & II LLC is a member-managed Florida Limited Liability Company designed to enable private accredited investors to actively participate in a disciplined investment process to fund promising early-stage through expansion-stage commercial ventures located in the U.S., with a preference to those in the state of Florida. The Fund is a member of the Angel Capital Association and the Florida Venture Forum. For more information, visit www.tamiamiangels.com.
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