Quebec company moozoom has just raised its first $5 million in venture capital, a feat accomplished just two years after its founding.
“We want to reach 250 million in the next three years,” enthusiastically launches Jean-Philippe Turgeon, who manages, as we may say, a growing box.
Created in 2020, the learning tool enables teachers to teach elementary school students socio-emotional fundamentals.
The former business lawyer had a thriving career when he left it all behind by investing $200,000 in moozoom. He then convinced a dozen investors, including ex-hockey player Maxime Talbot, to add more than $1 million in 2021.
The box took off and quickly landed in more than 1,000 schools, including 850 in Quebec.
You believed it
“We didn’t reach 1,000 schools for nothing. Teachers don’t have the resources to deal with mental health and behavioral issues in the classroom,” notes the entrepreneur.
Now it’s the turn of venture capital investors, including Fondaction, to believe in Jean-François Turgeon and his project.
“It was my first time raising venture capital. During that time, I’ve enjoyed working with people who know what we’re doing and who believe in it,” he says.
The money will be used to fill the ranks of the team, which already numbers 34 people. The platform on which moozoom’s videos can be found – shot at great expense “because it’s really important that it’s done well” – has to be adapted again and again.
And as the ex-lawyer puts it so beautifully: “This is just the beginning”.
The United States market is within reach for the box, which also wants to continue its collaboration with the Quebec Ministry of Education.
“It works, our business. The teachers want the tool, the students like it, we’re growing fast and we’re encouraged by this new investment,” he concludes.
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