Coursekit offers a social-network-style platform designed to increase student engagement and peer interaction in classes. The company borrows conventions from consumer social networks to make it easier for students to share materials and engage with each other. It was founded by Wharton dropout Joseph Cohen and is a graduate of TechStars NY. Coursekit intends to sell directly to professors and bypass traditional academic IT procurement cycles rather than competing head-on with incumbents. The company sees its business model as building large audiences of students and teachers that it can later leverage for monetization and other opportunities. Coursekit raised outside capital to support these plans and has drawn positive feedback from faculty users who say it improves in-class interaction. Coursekit is a New York City startup building a social, Facebook- or Yammer-like platform for courses. The founders position it as a Blackboard replacement with a heavy emphasis on social networking. The service lets teachers post syllabi, readings, grades, calendars and links and is designed to help professors manage courses and interactions with students. It also provides social messaging and file sharing (links, videos, MP3s, PDFs) so students can communicate and augment course materials. The founders say the goal is to make a 300-person lecture feel like a 20-person seminar. The company raised $1 million in a seed round to launch the service later in the summer for the Fall semester.

Total raised

$6M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Jan 2012