TakeLessons (www.takelessons.com), the largest online marketplace for private lessons, announced today a new $7 million in funding. The round, led by new investor Chicago-based Lightbank, included participation from the startup's existing investors, Crosslink Capital, SoftTech VC, and Triangle Peak Partners, and new investor, Moore Venture Partners.

TakeLessons, which connects students to high-quality, vetted teachers, will use the funding to fuel their expansion into new categories such as hobbies and crafts, sports and fitness, visual arts and computer skills. The new capital will also be used to advance the mobile scheduling and payment tools already used by thousands of instructors across the country.

'As TakeLessons grows, we've successfully expanded into new lifelong learning categories, and made meaningful connections between teachers and students,' said Steven Cox, CEO of TakeLessons. 'We're committed to helping teachers make a living doing what they love by empowering them with valuable technology solutions. Before TakeLessons, a huge market of private teachers was underserved by technology. Our new round of funding helps us continue to evolve the cloud-based tools that thousands of instructors trust to grow and manage their business.'

How TakeLessons Works:

TakeLessons offers the most comprehensive selection of private instructors who teach in-person and online lessons. Students can receive recommendations of vetted instructors and book lessons online at TakeLessons.com, or they can call a TakeLessons Student Counselor to find the perfect match. Once lessons begin, students and teachers leverage the platform for schedule management, billing and payment processing.

'Our suite of back-office tools is critical to the success of our marketplace,' said Alan Cole, COO of TakeLessons. 'Through our visibility into student retention and platform engagement, we can deliver informed recommendations and connections with the best instructors to ensure student satisfaction.'

Using the TakeLessons platform, experts can turn their passion for painting, guitar, or algebra into a business with national reach. Using TakeLessons, teachers have earned more than $20 million through the marketplace and taught more than 1 million lessons.

Earlier this year, TakeLessons announced its acquisition of Betterfly, an educational marketplace focused on online lessons. With the $7 million in funding, TakeLessons has raised $20 million to date.

About TakeLessons

TakeLessons is the trusted online marketplace for finding qualified and vetted instructors. At TakeLessons, students can follow their dreams and fuel personal growth by connecting with the perfect instructor in areas ranging from music, dance and acting to foreign languages, math and photography. Instructors rely on TakeLessons to simplify marketing and manage their business with integrated scheduling, billing, payment, and communication tools that work seamlessly across desktop and mobile devices. Students can learn more at http://takelessons.com and teachers can sign up at http://takelessons.com