ClassDojo
ClassDojo is a free educational technology platform founded in 2011 by Sam Chaudhary and Liam Don for classroom behavior management, positive reinforcement through point systems, and communication between teachers, students, and parents.[1][2]
The platform enables teachers to award digital points for skills like perseverance and teamwork, share multimedia updates in multiple languages, and foster social-emotional learning via integrated lessons on growth mindset.[2][3]
By 2025, ClassDojo claims active use in over 90% of U.S. K-8 schools and 180 countries, connecting more than 50 million teachers, families, and students daily, with billions of points awarded historically to track and encourage behaviors.[4][5]
Empirical studies indicate it can reduce disruptive behaviors in elementary settings when used for interventions like tootling or class-wide feedback, though results vary by implementation.[6][7]
Critics, including educational researchers, have raised concerns over its gamification promoting surveillance-like monitoring, datafication of discipline, and potential extrinsic rewards that may crowd out intrinsic motivation or enable performative compliance rather than genuine learning.[8][9]
History
Founding and Early Development
ClassDojo was co-founded in 2011 by Sam Chaudhary and Liam Don, both of whom had prior experience in education and technology.[10] [11] Chaudhary, who holds an economics degree from the University of Cambridge, had taught high school economics and worked in McKinsey's education practice in London.[10] Don, with a computer science degree from Durham University and ongoing PhD research in educational technologies, had taught robotics to high school students.[10] The pair met earlier that year at an entrepreneurs' event in the UK, where they connected over shared interests in improving education through technology, and subsequently relocated to Silicon Valley to participate in the Imagine K-12 edtech accelerator.[12] [11] Initially, Chaudhary and Don developed a group-making application for teachers as their accelerator project, but after receiving lukewarm feedback from early user interviews, they pivoted to address classroom behavior management—a challenge identified through conversations with hundreds of teachers in the US and UK.[12] [10] They focused on creating a simple tool enabling teachers to provide instant positive feedback to students via digital "stickers" or points for good behavior, emphasizing reinforcement over punishment to foster engagement.[12] This consumer-oriented approach targeted individual teachers, students, and families directly, bypassing slow school procurement processes amid a challenging edtech funding environment.[12] The platform launched in 2011, achieving rapid organic adoption through teacher word-of-mouth.[10] [12] By the Imagine K-12 demo day that year, it had attracted 10,000 users; within months, it expanded to 35,000 classrooms, prompting seed investment from Y Combinator's Paul Graham.[11] [12] Early iterations incorporated features like student avatars and parent accounts based on user input, leading to over 1 million users and coverage in more than 30 countries by mid-2013, with daily behavior observations skewing 95% positive.[10]Expansion and Milestones
ClassDojo experienced rapid initial adoption following its beta launch in 2011, reaching 35,000 classrooms within 12 weeks through word-of-mouth among educators.[13] By 2012, the platform secured $1.6 million in seed funding, enabling further development and scaling of its behavior management tools.[14] This early investment supported expansion beyond initial U.S. users, with the app translating into multiple languages to facilitate international growth. In 2016, ClassDojo achieved a significant U.S. milestone when 90% of K-8 schools adopted the platform, establishing it as the most widely used classroom communication tool in that segment.[15] Concurrently, it expanded globally to over 180 countries and more than 35 languages by 2017, broadening access for non-English-speaking educators and families.[16] User base growth continued, surpassing 100 million downloads by 2021 amid increasing integration of features like parent messaging and student portfolios.[13] The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 catalyzed accelerated expansion, with revenue nearly tripling due to heightened demand for remote learning tools that maintained classroom connections.[11] This period marked the platform's shift toward profitability in 2021, following years of zero-revenue operation focused on user acquisition, and attracted growth equity investment to support district-level scaling.[17] [18] By 2025, ClassDojo connected over 51 million children, families, and educators worldwide, reflecting sustained adoption driven by iterative feature updates such as AI-assisted tools.[19]Funding and Financial Backing
ClassDojo secured initial seed funding through participation in Y Combinator in 2011, with backing from investors including Paul Graham.[20] The platform's major venture funding began in subsequent years, accumulating a total of $221 million across nine rounds from 31 investors, including prominent firms such as General Catalyst, GSV Ventures, SignalFire, and Tencent.[21][20] This capital supported product development, global expansion, and scaling to serve millions of users, culminating in unicorn status with a $1.25 billion valuation by late 2021.[22] Key funding rounds are summarized below:| Date | Round | Amount | Lead Investors | Valuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2016 | Venture | $21 million | General Catalyst | Not disclosed |
| February 2019 | Series C | $35 million | GSV Ventures, SignalFire | $400 million |
| January 2021 | Venture | $30 million | Undisclosed solo capitalist | Not disclosed |
| September 2021 | Series D | $125 million | Tencent | Approximately $1.3 billion |