What
Adaptive learning company that partners with publishers, content providers and educational institutions to enable personalized education at mass scale
Disrupting
Traditional educational content model for K-12 and higher-education publishing, as well as corporate training and adult education
Vital Stats
- 500,000 students at the end of last year.
- 3 million students expected by end of this year.
- 10 million students expected by end of next year.
- Goal is to be like Amazon Web Services for education.
- Ultimately plans to move beyond large learning companies and university systems to offer technology direct to start-ups, schools and individual teachers.
- More than 1 billion recommendations served.
- Recently partnered with Cambridge University Press, the oldest publisher in the world, covering 250,000 students.
Headquarters: New York City
CEO: Jose Ferreira
Year Founded: 2008
Number of Employees: 150 (by year-end 2013)
Funding: $54 million
Key Investors: Founders Fund, FirstMark Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel Partners, First Round Capital, Pearson, Reid Hoffman
Clients: Pearson Education, Cambridge University Press, MacMillan Education, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, John Wiley & Sons, Triumph Learning, Arizona State University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), University of Alabama
On Disruption
True disruption happens when entrepreneurs aim big and go after a giant problem, a problem that, if solved, would usher in an era of large-scale transformation across industries and nations. Far too often, the word 'disruption' is used as a cover-up. Many venture capitalists/investors say they’re looking for the next big idea. But they aren’t, really; they’re looking for something derivative, because derivative is safe.Jose FerreiraKnewton Founder and CEO