Class Messenger
Private messaging service designed to keep teachers, parents and students in sync.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Acquisition | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Class Messenger operated as a private messaging service within the educational technology market, specifically designed to facilitate communication between teachers, parents, and students. The company was founded in Toronto, Canada, in 2013 by Keith McSpurren, a serial entrepreneur who previously co-founded and sold two other technology companies, CoveritLive and Salesdriver. The venture was initially launched under the name WDWDT?, an acronym for “What Did We Do Today?”, before being rebranded as Class Messenger.
The platform's core function was to serve as a centralized communication hub, combining elements of email, text messaging, and social media into a single, private application for the K-12 education sector. Teachers could create virtual classrooms, add students and parents, and send out various types of messages, including homework assignments, event reminders, meeting requests, and general class updates. A key feature was the ability for teachers to send a single message that parents could receive via their preferred method, whether through the mobile app, email, or SMS text message. The service also supported private one-on-one and parent-to-parent messaging, photo sharing, and provided analytics for teachers to see if their messages were being read.
The business model primarily offered the service as a free tool for its users, which included teachers, students, and parents. In September 2013, the company secured a significant milestone with a $1 million seed investment from Scholastic Inc., a major player in the educational publishing and media space. This partnership aimed to leverage Scholastic's extensive network to accelerate user adoption without substantial marketing expenditure. Following this investment, the platform added “powered by Scholastic” branding. On January 5, 2017, Class Messenger was acquired by LivingTree, another company in the K-12 communication space. As part of the acquisition, founder Keith McSpurren joined LivingTree's advisory board, and Class Messenger's services were scheduled to be phased out by June 2017, with users being migrated to the LivingTree platform.
Keywords: classroom communication, parent-teacher messaging, edtech, K-12 communication, school messaging app, private messaging service, teacher communication tool, student engagement, parent engagement, Scholastic, Keith McSpurren, LivingTree, WDWDT, educational technology, homework reminders, class updates, mobile learning, school communication platform, two-way messaging, digital classroom tools