GSV Capital

GSV is a US venture capital fund that invests heavily in education start-ups, among other things.

Core business

Launched in April 2011, GSV (which stands for 'Global Silicon Valley'), defines six themes that it feels have the greatest investment potential: Social Media, Mobile Computing and Apps, Cloud Computing, Software as a Service, Green Technology, and Education Technology.

Portfolio

As of August 2015:

• Knewton, adaptive learning company

• 2U, online education platform
• Avenues, private school chain
• Chegg, online textbook rentals, homework help, online tutoring etc
• Curious.com, online 'lifelong learning' firm
• Coursera, a for-profit edtech company offering online courses (MOOCs)
• Declara, a 'personalised learning' software company,
• General Assembly, a New York City 'startup campus' featuring courses relevant to internet startups
• Tynker, programming courses for kids

Lobbying

In 2012, GSV founder, Michael Moe published a blueprint for radical reform of America's education system:

'It should not be lost on us that revolutions are actually a fairly common occurrence in modern society. The most recent prominent example is the “Arab Spring,” but since 1900, there have been over 250 governments overturned by revolutionary action... The revolution America needs today is not against an oppressive monarchy, but rather against an educational system that has equally oppressive effects. Fortunately, we have the arms and technology to fight this war.

The Nation's Lee Fang comments:

'The revolution GSV goes on to describe is a battle to control the fate of America’s K-12 education system. Noting that this money is still controlled by public entities, or what’s referred in the document as “the old model,” the GSV paper calls for reformers to join the “education battlefield.” (A colorful diagram depicts “unions” and “status quo” forces equipped with muskets across businesses and other “change agents” equipped with a fighter jet and a howitzer.) The GSV manifesto declares, “we believe the opportunity to build numerous multi-billion dollar education enterprises is finally real.”'

The manifesto includes a chapter titled 'Time to Fight' (which is followed by a quote from the film "The Untouchables": 'He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue.') It includes case studies profiling education technology business - the 'Special Forces' of Moe's revolution – a large number of which are in GSV's investment portfolio.

It concludes with a series of 'battle strategies', which it believes will bring about radical, market-driven, education reform ('We believe that capitalism works,' it reads, adding that 'market forces will do a lot of the heavy lifting'). The 'battle strategies' include:

• eliminate the term “education reform” as we focus on education innovation as the means to solve our education problem.
• outlaw the terms “for-profit” and “not-for-profit” as they represent corporate structures and thus have no bearing on the effectiveness of a particular program or product. Return on Education (”ROE”) becomes the objective measurement to determine if an education program is good or bad.
• embrace the philosophy of choice and competition by creating an even playing field for charter schools, virtual charters and other alternative programs
• buy every pre-K through 6th grade student in America a tablet computer
• establish Computer Language as a core curriculum that will be required from kindergarten on up
• create an open marketplace for information on all schools, administrators, teachers, and ROE for educational products and services
• adopt the Common Core (standardised tests) in all 50 states and create incentives for innovators to develop disruptive, high-impact content.
• make Teach for America even more celebrated and scaled by enrolling the nation’s brightest college graduates to teach for two years
• implement a “universal” pre-school voucher program
• establish... national standards [that] are consistently applied, with real consequences for schools that don’t teach, and conversely, real rewards for schools that are effective.
• create tax-deductible individual learner savings accounts
• institute a “Truth in Education” policy. Students and parents sign a document before they accept enrollment that they have read and understand the percentage of students that graduates, the number of years it takes to graduate, the percentage of graduates that find a job within 12 month, the average starting salary, and the average student loan amount.

Political links

• Bob Grady, member of GSV advisory board. A close confidant of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former chairman of the $81 billion New Jersey Investment Council. Also former Deputy Assistant to President George H. W. Bush

Investors/People

• Michael Moe, founder and CEO of GSV Asset Management

Contact

website: http://gsvcap.com