PrepMe
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| Type | Test Preparation, Adaptive Learning |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet, Education |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois, USA |
| Key people |
Karan Goel: CEO |
| Revenue |  Unknown |
| Website | PrepMe.com |
PrepMe is a for-profit American company that offers online courses and tutoring for standardized achievement tests, in particular those offered by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), such as the PSAT and SAT; and the ACT offered by ACT, Inc. PrepMe also developed its Coursification platform to open its adaptive online learning platform to publishers.
The company was founded in 2001 by Avichal Garg and Karan Goel, Stanford and University of Chicago students respectively. It is based in Chicago with a software engineering team in Palo Alto, California. One of the company's co-founders, Avichal Garg, a former Google product manager, raised investment capital from other former Google employees to fund PrepMe. The company was incubated at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business' Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship after it won the university's 2005 New Venture Challenge.
The company is a 2008 winner of the Chicago Innovation Awards and was featured on the front cover of Fortune Small Business[1].
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[edit] Description
PrepMe uses adaptive learning technology to provide students with a customized test preparation course specifically targeting individual strengths and weaknesses. Students are also provided with one-on-one online tutoring and essay coaching from current students at Stanford and the University of Chicago.[2][3]
On February 1, 2007, Maine governor John Baldacci announced that for three years PrepMe planned to let every junior in Maine use its online SAT preparation program without cost to themselves, their school, or the state. Office of the Governor Release.
Over 100,000 students have used the company's programs.[1]
[edit] Acquisition
In July 2011, PrepMe's platform was acquired by Ascend Learning backed by Providence Equity Capital, which also owns Blackboard Inc. and Archipelago Learning.[4]
The acquisition gives Ascend ownership of PrepMe's Coursification™ platform, a software service launched in March 2011 that enables customized online-learning courses.[5] PrepMe continues to provide college readiness and preparation services under license from Ascend.[6]
[edit] Media coverage
PrepMe has garnered significant press coverage for its approach and the founding team. This includes:
- 3 startups to watch on CNN (November 2005)
- A startup that puts teenagers to the test in The Business Life of The Financial Times for the launch of the first ever SAT preparation program geared at 6th, 7th, and 8th graders (October 2006)
- Best Entrepreneurs under 25 recognition for all three co-founders from Business Week Magazine (October 2006)
- Company offers free online SAT preparation to Maine juniors in Boston Globe (February 2007)
- Start-Ups Change How Students Study for Tests in TechCrunch (September 2007)
- Anywhere Test Prep in PC Magazine (October 2007)
- PrepMe Aces the College Tests in Business Week Magazine (October 2008)
- For Former Google Employees, Start-Ups Are a Family Affair in The New York Times (November 2008)
- Stephen's Sound Advice, How to Ace the SATs on The Colbert Report (May 2010)
- PrepMe's Coursification Offers a Personalized Online Learning Platform in TechCrunch (March 2011)
- Innovation Incubator Program from SIIA (May 2011)
- Blackboard Buyer Providence Equity Acquires Personalized Online Learning Platform From PrepMe in TechCrunch (July 2011)
[edit] References
- ^ a b Schonwald, John (2005-11-23). "College alumnus becomes first-place entrepreneur". University of Chicago Chronicle. http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/051103/entrepreneur.shtml. Retrieved 2009-03-17. "The prize, which the magazine announced this month as its cover story, will give Goel’s new company PrepMe.com $35,000."
- ^ "Chicago GSB Student Wins Fortune Small Business Third Annual Business Plan Contest" (in English) (Online) (Press release). University of Chicago. 2005-10-24. http://www.chicagogsb.edu/newsmedia/releases/pr2005-10-24_PrepMe_FSB.aspx. Retrieved 2007-08-31. "All curricular materials used by PrepMe.com are written by top scorers from Caltech, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, the University of Chicago, and Yale, and are designed to be entertaining and engage today’s students"
- ^ Spirrison, Brad (2006-10-27). "GrubHub.com Walks Home with Briefcase Full of Greens at Freshwater Live". Column (MidwestBusiness). Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927070255/http://www.midwestbusiness.com/news/viewnews.asp?newsletterID=15861. Retrieved 2007-08-31. "PrepMe is a test preparation company that uses a proprietary technology and tutors from Stanford and the University of Chicago to help teenagers with their SATs and standardized tests"
- ^ Strambor, Zak (2011-07-18). "Blackboard Buyer Providence Equity Acquires Personalized Online Learning Platform From PrepMe". TechCrunch. http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/18/blackboard-buyer-providence-equity-acquires-personalized-online-learning-platform-from-prepme/. Retrieved 2011-07-18. "Digital learning company Ascend Learning is acquiring PrepMe’s adaptive learning platform and virtual classroom SaaS"
- ^ Rao, Leena (2011-03-28). "PrepMe's Coursification Offers A Personalized Online Learning Platform". TechCrunch. http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/28/prepmes-coursification-offers-a-personalized-online-learning-platform/. Retrieved 2011-07-27. "Online test prep company PrepMe is taking on the likes of online course platform Blackboard with the launch of Coursification, a web-based application for personalized online learning courses."
- ^ Pletz, John (2011-07-26). "PrepMe sells core technology to vocational ed company". Crain's Chicago Business. http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20110726/NEWS08/110729906/prepme-sells-core-technology-to-vocational-ed-company. Retrieved 2011-07-27. "The Chicago-based startup will continue to offer its products that help students prepare for SAT, ACT or PSAT tests."
