Varsity Tutors, the education platform that connects students with tutors, has today announced the acquisition of First Tutors in the UK. This marks the first major international expansion for Varsity Tutors, which has raised $57 million since launch in 2011. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Varsity Tutors originally launched as a platform that would connect tutors with students and let them conduct their sessions offline. The company has now gone from a predominantly offline tutoring platform to running the majority of its business online, through audio, video chat, collaborative sessions, etc. Varsity Tutors currently has more than 30,000 experts across 1,000 different subjects, and can instantly connect students with an expert within 20 seconds. First Tutors functions a bit more like the Varsity Tutors of old. The platform connects students with tutors for a fee (ranging between £4.99 to £24.99, depending on subject and expertise) and lets them take that relationship offline. The first step, according to Varsity Tutors founder and CEO Chuck Cohn, is to work on integrating the VT technology platform in with First Tutors and their users in the UK. That said, the two entities will continue operating on their own until the duo can better understand how to price their product in the UK. This is just the first step in Varsity Tutors’ plans to geographically expand — the company has eyes on other English-speaking territories like South Africa and Australia.
Online tutoring platform Varsity Tutors has purchased the South Africa’s First Tutors in the first step of a plan to expand internationally. Varsity, which has raised $57m since its launch in 2011, will merge First Tutors’ operations and South Africa customers with its own platform, although the two will continue to trade as separate entities in the South Africa until they can better gauge how to price their products. The company is considering further expansion into other English-speaking territories such as Australia and UK.