This Paper company profile covers the company's valuation, revenue, funding rounds, investors and history. Paper works in education technology, with a focus on online tutoring. It was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its latest valuation on record is About US$1 billion (unicorn) (2022). Every figure links to a public source, and anything the company hasn't disclosed is marked as such.
Revenue
| Metric | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Layoffs | 105 staff (Aug 2023) and 87 corporate staff (Sep 2023); later about 45% of roughly 180 head-office staff | 2023–2024 | BetaKit |
Funding history
| Date | Round | Amount | Valuation | Investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Series D | C$343M (about US$270M) | About US$1B | Not detailed in source | Venture Capital Journal |
Paper timeline
Key dates from the sources on this page, oldest first. Metric snapshots are listed after the funding events.
- 2014 — Paper is founded in Montreal by Philip Cutler and Roberto Cipriani.
- 2022 — Series D: C$343M (about US$270M), valuing the company at About US$1B.
- 2023–2024 — Layoffs: 105 staff (Aug 2023) and 87 corporate staff (Sep 2023); later about 45% of roughly 180 head-office staff.
Investors
Not disclosed.
Overview
Paper provides online tutoring and learning support to students, sold mainly to school districts rather than to parents. The model is simple to describe: a district pays Paper, and every student in that district gets access to live help from tutors, essay feedback and other learning support, around the clock, at no extra cost to families. The goal is to make tutoring, traditionally available mostly to families who can afford it, accessible to every student.
Philip Cutler and Roberto Cipriani founded Paper in Montreal in 2014. It grew slowly at first, then extremely fast when the pandemic pushed schools online and governments sent large amounts of emergency education funding to school districts.
The business model
Selling to school districts rather than individual families has big advantages. One contract can cover tens of thousands of students, and districts sign multi-year agreements. It also has big risks. District budgets depend on government funding, procurement is slow and political, and when special funding programs end, spending can fall quickly. Paper's story illustrates both sides.
Paper's service relies on a large pool of tutors, which is a major cost. Making the economics work means getting high usage, so districts see value, without tutoring costs growing faster than contract revenue.
Funding history
Paper's defining moment was its Series D in 2022: C$343 million, about US$270 million, which made it a unicorn with a valuation of roughly US$1 billion. BetaKit put its total funding at around C$496 million after the round. One other source cites a higher valuation, but we use the figure from BetaKit's reporting.
The round came near the peak of investor enthusiasm for education technology, when pandemic-era demand and federal relief funds in the US had driven rapid growth across the sector.
Layoffs and leadership changes
As pandemic relief funding for schools wound down and districts had to do, in BetaKit's words, "more with less," Paper's growth slowed sharply. BetaKit reported a series of cuts:
- 105 staff laid off in August 2023, with the co-founders citing a focus on profitability,
- 87 corporate staff, not tutors, in a second round in September 2023,
- later, roughly 45% of about 180 head-office employees and all Canadian tutors, as co-founder Phil Cutler was moved out of the CEO role and an interim CEO was appointed.
Co-founder Roberto Cipriani later stepped back from day-to-day work to a board and advisory role. Reports indicate further leadership changes after that.
Revenue: what's public
Paper hasn't published its revenue, and we haven't found a reliable company-reported figure. Its revenue depends on the number and size of district contracts. The end of pandemic-era education funding in the US is the main reason growth slowed, and it's a reminder that revenue tied to temporary government programs needs to be treated with caution when valuing a company.
What went wrong, and what founders can learn
Paper isn't a story of a bad product. Many districts found its service valuable. It's a story about timing, funding sources and expectations.
- Temporary demand can look permanent. Growth driven by emergency funding was valued as if it would continue. When the funding ended, so did much of the growth.
- A peak valuation creates pressure. Raising at about US$1 billion set expectations that were hard to meet in a normal funding environment. See our guide to down rounds for what happens when valuations reset.
- Customer concentration in one sector is risky. Selling only to public school districts tied Paper's fortunes to education budgets.
- Labour-heavy models need careful unit economics. Tutoring requires people, and costs don't fall as easily as software costs when growth slows.
The wider edtech context
Paper wasn't alone. Education technology as a whole saw a boom during the pandemic and a sharp correction afterwards, with many companies cutting staff and resetting valuations. Our list of Canadian unicorns shows a similar pattern for other companies whose demand depended on temporary conditions, such as ApplyBoard, which was hit by changes to international student policy.
What to watch next
The key questions for Paper are whether it can grow profitably with a smaller team and how school districts fund tutoring now that pandemic-era relief has ended. Watch for contract renewals with large districts, any new funding, partnership or acquisition news, and evidence that AI tools are lowering the cost of delivering tutoring. AI could be a major lever for a business whose biggest cost is human tutors.
Key facts at a glance
Paper is a Montreal online tutoring company founded in 2014 by Philip Cutler and Roberto Cipriani. It sells mainly to school districts. In 2022 it raised a C$343 million (about US$270 million) Series D that made it a unicorn. After pandemic education funding ended, it made several rounds of layoffs in 2023 and 2024 and changed its leadership.
How district contracts shape a tutoring business
Selling to school districts changes almost everything about how a company operates. Sales cycles follow the school year and budget calendar, so contracts are often decided in spring and start in the autumn. Decisions involve superintendents, curriculum leaders, procurement teams and sometimes school boards. Contracts may be funded from specific grant programs that come with reporting requirements, such as proving how many students used the service and with what results.
That means usage data is central. A district that pays for every student to have access to tutoring wants to see that students actually use it, especially students who need help most. Providers that can show strong engagement and learning outcomes renew; those that can't, struggle. For investors, district renewal rates are one of the clearest signals of whether a K–12 edtech company has durable value once special funding ends.
For founders building for schools, the lesson is to design for a world without special funding from day one: price so districts can sustain the service from regular budgets, and measure outcomes from the start so renewal decisions rest on evidence.
Strong evidence of learning gains is also what wins the next contract.
What this means if you're…
Selling to Paper: a company focused on efficiency and profitability buys tools with clear, fast payback, especially those that improve tutor productivity or reduce support costs.
A school district: ask any tutoring provider for usage data from comparable districts, how tutors are vetted and trained, and how pricing works if usage changes.
A founder: stress-test your growth assumptions. Ask how much of your demand depends on temporary conditions, and plan your burn and fundraising accordingly. Our guide to bridge rounds covers options when growth slows.
Latest developments (October 2026)
Paper, the Montreal tutoring company, has continued working with US school districts in 2026, which offer its on-demand tutoring to students, and it has published outcome studies from district partners. Martina Tam has led the company since January 2025 after a period of contract losses and job cuts. No new funding has been announced; its 2022 valuation of about US$1.5 billion remains the latest figure. See our edtech guide.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from the public sources below. Where sources disagreed, we used the company's own announcement or a primary news report. Private-company data changes; check the date beside each figure.
Frequently asked questions
What does Paper do?
Paper is a education technology / online tutoring company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 2014.
What is Paper's valuation?
Paper was valued at About US$1 billion (unicorn) as of 2022, according to BetaKit. Private company valuations are set at funding rounds or share sales and can change significantly between them.
How much revenue does Paper make?
Paper is a private company and has not publicly disclosed its revenue. Figures on third-party sites are usually modelled estimates rather than numbers reported by the company.
What was Paper's latest funding round?
The most recent financing we have verified is a series d in 2022: C$343M (about US$270M), at a valuation of About US$1B. Source: Venture Capital Journal.
Who founded Paper?
Paper was founded in 2014 by Philip Cutler and Roberto Cipriani.
Is Paper a public company?
No. Paper is a private company (private, venture backed), so its shares are not traded on a stock exchange and it isn't required to publish its financial results.
Where is Paper headquartered?
Paper is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. See our guide to raising money in Canada for context on the Montreal startup ecosystem.