TakeLessons is a San Diego-based online marketplace that connects students with vetted private instructors for in-person and online lessons across subjects such as music, dance, photography, visual arts and academics. The platform enables students to receive recommendations, book lessons online or via a counselor, and facilitates teacher payments. The company is led by CEO Steven Cox and COO Alan Cole. TakeLessons plans to use new funding to expand into categories including hobbies and crafts, sports and fitness, visual arts and computer skills, and to advance its mobile scheduling and payment tools. Teachers on the platform have earned more than $20M and taught over 1 million lessons. Earlier in 2014 the company acquired Betterfly, an educational marketplace focused on online lessons. TakeLessons operates an online marketplace that connects students with vetted music instructors and supports both in-person and online lessons. Founded in 2006 and based in San Diego, the company provides scheduling, payments (including a call center), and a platform for instructors to digitize their businesses. TakeLessons has paid out over $10 million to teachers, logged roughly 500,000 lessons, serves students in over 3,000 cities, employs 60+ staff and works with about 7,500 teachers; the average lesson price is $38. The company enforces a seven-step curation process for instructors that includes interviews, background checks, reference checks and online training to maintain quality. Management positions the business as a hyper-local marketplace similar to Uber for services and views brick-and-mortar stores as its primary incumbent competitors. With existing online lesson traction, the company plans to expand into adjacent verticals such as academic tutoring, dance, acting, art and language lessons and to test international expansion. TakeLessons operates a platform that connects students with Certified TakeLessons instructors and handles scheduling and payment for private music and voice lessons. Founded in 2006 and based in San Diego, the company offers lessons in over 2,800 U.S. cities across 35 music classes, including voice, piano, guitar, drums and several less common instruments. Teachers undergo a multi-step screening process (fewer than 8% of applicants are accepted) and students provide feedback after each lesson; instructors with consistently poor reports are removed. TakeLessons also offers turnkey programs for schools, government agencies, community centers, and corporate clients, and has partnered with Best Buy to offer lessons inside stores—teaching in over 50 Best Buy locations nationwide as of June, with more stores planned. The company emphasizes safety, professionalism, and helping artists make a living doing what they love. It recently raised $6 million in a venture round to support growth.

Total raised

$17M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Mar 2014