ClassDojo is a technological interface that allows teachers and parents to stay informed and involved in the classroom. It also allows important updates to be communicated to parents from the teachers and schools. In its first eight years, the company seemed doomed to fail. They had no paid users, zero revenue, and a team that was stalled in growth. However, ClassDojo received tens of millions of venture capital thanks to prominent elite Silicon Valley investors including GSV, SignalFire, General Catalyst, and Y Combinator. Founder Sam Chaudhary says that the startup lasted so long without financial growth because he and his team believed in the future of the company and that it was a product fit for the long term.
Since 2011, the company has been slowly aggregating fans in public schools both in the United States and around the globe. Every engineer that works at ClassDojo serves a population that is comparable in size to the city of San Francisco. The company has benefited from its frugal approach to spending, as its core service is free for anyone to download and take advantage of. Currently, ClassDojo is being utilized by 51 million people across 180 countries.
In 2019, the company tested the loyalty of its growing customer base by launching its first monetization attempt with Beyond School. This service pairs in-school learning with tutorials that can be done at home. Within four months of launching Beyond School, ClassDojo hit profitability. With COVID-19 impacting education in 2020, the company tripled its revenue with the addition of hundreds of thousands of paid subscribers. They are a success story and prove that a company can be profitable, even after years of stagnant financial growth.