Based in the North West, Gaia Learning focuses on delivering live, online classes for children aged eight to 16 with ADHD and autism. As the new academic year kicks off, the demand for its services is soaring, with record numbers of enquiries both domestically and internationally. The latest round of funding is set to fuel Gaia Learning's ongoing national and global expansion, further strengthening its impact on neurodivergent education.

“We’re so pleased to have our new investment partners on board and them acknowledging the potential in all we do at Gaia Learning to help school partners, learners and their families. We have tripled our learners this academic year, grown our team to 12 staff members and seen huge demand from children who are struggling in mainstream education. Now, more than ever, schools need flexible, digital solutions that can scale within budget supporting each neurodivergent child’s needs,” says Kate Longworth, CEO of Gaia Learning.

Since 2019 Gaia Learning has gone from a small, specialist tuition business to an award-winning Cambridge Registered International School Online and the first online learning provider to be awarded the ADHD Friendly School award from the ADHD Foundation in 2023.

Nesta Impact Investments (Nesta) led the investment round with Manchester-based GC Angels also co-investing. Nesta brings both investment capital to support the business' growth and strategic focus on narrowing the education outcomes gap.  GC Angels is focussed on making direct purpose led investments to support the growth of early-stage businesses like Gaia Learning.

“We backed Gaia learning as both a promising high growth business and as a solution to tackle the acute gap between education outcomes of students with special educational needs and the average. Students with an Education Health and Care Plan, who Gaia Learning typically supports, at a national level have outcomes at GCSE eight times worse than the average. One of Nesta's key areas of focus is to narrow the education attainment gap and Gaia Learning provides a compelling solution to tackle this,” says Lisa Barclay, Executive Director of Investments at Nesta.

Marc Shirman, Head of Investments at GC Angels, said: “Gaia Learning is exactly what GC Angels is all about. The teams purpose-led approach is helping children who would otherwise be left behind in education to thrive, and the growth they’ve so far achieved is commendable. As the team continues to grow, and with enquiries on the up, we worked with Kate and the team to ensure Gaia Learning has the necessary investment and resources to drive further expansion and, ultimately, deliver incredible results for young people.”