a16z Invests in Maven: The Future of Cohort-Based Courses

Maven Secures $20 Million in Series A Funding

Maven, a company dedicated to facilitating cohort-based learning for professionals, has successfully completed a $20 million Series A funding round. This investment was spearheaded by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with general partner Andrew Chen joining Maven’s board of directors.

This latest funding follows a $4.3 million round secured seven months prior, led by First Round Capital, and a subsequent $750,000 equity crowdfunding raise three months later. While the company has not disclosed its current valuation, the influx of capital will be strategically allocated to further develop its core proposition: the belief that cohort-based learning represents the future of education.

The Foundation of Maven’s Success

The strength of Maven lies in its experienced founding team. It comprises Udemy co-founder Gagan Biyani, altMBA co-founder Wes Kao, and Shreyans Bhansali, an early employee at Venmo and co-founder of Socratic.

Maven’s growth trajectory also demonstrates significant potential. The platform provides a comprehensive suite of tools designed to simplify the process of running cohort-based courses, charging a 10% fee on instructors’ earnings – a model similar to that of Substack.

Impressive Early Results

Within three months of its January launch, four courses hosted on Maven generated over $100,000 in revenue each. To date, the total value of courses sold through the platform exceeds $1 million.

The newly acquired capital will be used to emphasize the benefits of cohort-based courses (CBCs) to instructors. Maven has already received applications from over 2,000 prospective instructors and anticipates expanding its instructor base from 7 to 100 by the year’s end.

Notably, several of Maven’s investors, including Sahil Lavingia and Li Jin, are actively teaching courses on the platform.

Empowering Non-Traditional Educators

Long-term, Maven aims to differentiate itself by enabling experts who may not consider themselves “conventional instructors” to share their knowledge effectively.

A unique aspect of Maven’s approach is the course all co-founder Wes Kao teaches to new instructors. This curriculum covers everything from curriculum development to market validation and course promotion.

Addressing the Challenges of Monetization

Kao notes that while many instructors recognize the potential of transforming their free advice into revenue-generating classes, successfully monetizing that expertise can be challenging.

“Existing platforms – such as Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter – often create a disconnect between monetization efforts and community building,” Kao explained. “Creators frequently provide valuable content for free, then rely on brand partnerships or merchandise sales, which can sometimes detract from fostering a strong community.”

Expanding Awareness of Cohort-Based Courses

The primary challenge facing Maven is increasing awareness and understanding of CBCs among creators. It’s crucial to demonstrate the value of focused learning experiences amidst the constant stream of online content.

Maven recognizes this challenge intimately.

“Initially, we had to clearly define the distinction between general ‘content’ and the unique offering provided by Maven,” Kao stated. “There is an abundance of content readily available.” The company invested significant effort in developing a cohort-based learning experience that effectively combines content with community and accountability, and continues to refine this approach.

“Ultimately, the solution proved straightforward. We believe we’ve entered the Post Content Age,” Kao concluded. “Content is no longer a scarce resource in education; it is either freely available or inexpensive, and it is plentiful.”