Friday, 2 October 2015

Aceable Steers Ahead With $4.7 Million for Driver’s Ed Apps

Driver’s ed and defensive driving schools have in the past required students to attend classes in person, adhere to a pre-set schedule and pay hundreds of dollars.

But an Austin, Texas, startup called Aceable Inc. has raised $4.7 million in seed funding to make driver’s ed course work and tests something students can do whenever they want via mobile apps or on the Web.

A wave of earlier venture-backed education startups–including Udemy, Udacity, Coursera and PluralSight–have offered a broad swathe of classes online, even if they focused on programming or language learning.

But Aceable’s narrow focus on driver’s ed and defensive driving gives the company a bit of a “protective moat” from would-be competitors, says founder and CEO Blake Garrett. It takes time to attain state approvals to begin selling mobile and online courses to customers in every state. Right now the company is operating in Texas and Florida, both states with a large number of drivers. Courses, sold direct to consumers, cost from $25 to $100.

Some states, including New York and Massachusetts, don’t accept online or mobile driver’s ed and defensive driving courses. Upon completion, students have to book their own driving tests with a local DMV, typically, to obtain a license.

Silverton Partners led the investment in Aceable and was joined by Floodgate Ventures, NextGen Angels and Capital Factory. Silverton General Partner Morgan Flager says that long-term, investors see the potential for Aceable to expand beyond its niche to offer what’s called continuing education.

For the full article about Aceable’s funding, including how the startup will use its new money, go to Dow Jones VentureWire.

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