Edtech Startup Class Messenger Gets $1 Million Investment from Scholastic

Following a quiet market introduction in April of this year, the private messaging service WDWDT? which helps keep teachers, parents and students in sync has announced that it has received a $1 million investment from Scholastic Inc.

Toronto-based WDWDT? – the acronym stands for “What Did We Do Today?” – also announced it is changing its name to Class Messenger and adding “powered by Scholastic” branding to its web and mobile properties.

In addition to the Scholastic investment, the two companies have agreed to work together to make Class Messenger available as a service to Scholastic teacher customers as they promote the intellectual and personal growth of children around the world.

Class Messenger Founder Keith McSpurren, who previously cofounded technology companies CoveritLive (acquired by Demand Media) and Salesdriver (acquired by Carlson Marketing), believes the relationship with Scholastic will give Class Messenger a big advantage on a number of fronts. “The value of Scholastic’s more than 90 years of serving children, parents and teachers gives us access to a wealth of knowledge that can be put into the product very quickly. Additionally Scholastic will tell its teacher customers how they can find and use Class Messenger, thereby building the audience more quickly than we could do separately without significant marketing expense.”

Dick Robinson, President and CEO of Scholastic, considers the investment and business relationship a good fit with Scholastic’s mission. “Class Messenger will strengthen the communication links among teachers, parents and their children. I was impressed with the current product capability and believe that the plan going forward will offer a useful service for our customers.”

Class Messenger is the best of things you use today (Twitter, email, text, Instagram, blogs) simplified into a service that takes 10 seconds to use. Teachers use the mobile app and website to create quick short form messages in categories like Homework, Reminders, Surveys, Meeting Requests and more.

Parents and Students get their messages from the app, website, email, push notification or even text message if they prefer. It’s private, two-way, direct and ensures that everyone stays informed.