Brainly
Brainly empowers students to share their knowledge and learn from each other
Business Solutions & Consumer ServicesOriginally Published in June 2017
Brainly is a multinational educational technology company with offices in Kraków and New York City. Available in 35 countries, Brainly is the world’s largest social learning community. It is intended to help middle-school and high-school students solve problems and learn from each other. With nearly 8,000 questions being asked per hour and 100,000 questions being answered per day, a team of more than 1,000 moderators manage the website and mobile app, which bring together 60 million unique users monthly.
Brainly was launched in 2009 as a way to make learning and collaborating online as engaging, effective and rewarding as the educational discussions that happen in the classroom as well as informal settings. Since then, the platform has become a community that encourages students to help each other answer questions about school assignments, discussions or to just learn about a subject they’re interested in. By answering questions of other students, users gain points that they can cash in to post more questions of their own. Brainly allows students to answer math, science, history and other subject-related questions. As students answer more and more questions, they can rise up the ranks from “Beginner” to “Genius.” To ensure students are receiving only the best, most accurate information, top students act as moderators.
To build an even stronger online learning hub for students, in 2016 Brainly acquired the leading U.S. peer-to-peer learning platform, OpenStudy, which was named one of the 10 Most Innovative Companies in Education by Fast Company. Together, the platforms will encourage academic exploration by offering students a comprehensive, collaborative online learning tool available. The two brands have one common goal: to improve the way students learn outside of the classroom and by joining forces, they can offer users a larger community to connect with and learn from. “With the acquisition of OpenStudy, Brainly has created the best peer-to-peer platform for students to follow their curiosity and gain a deeper understanding of a wide variety of subjects along their academic journey,” said Brainly CEO Michał Borkowski.
To build an even stronger online learning hub for students, in 2016 Brainly acquired the leading U.S. peer-to-peer learning platform, OpenStudy.
Brainly is backed by Point Nine Capital, General Catalyst, Runa Capital and Learn Capital and in 2016, the company announced a $15 million Series B funding round led by Naspers—one of the largest technology investors in the world. This brings the total funding raised to $27 million and will accelerate Brainly’s growth and international expansion. The new investment will also be used to focus on the U.S. market and enhance the technologies on the current platform, as well as to provide a more exciting, educational and personalized learning experience for students.
“We continue to believe that peer-to-peer learning is the most effective way to increase curiosity, build confidence and engage with other like-minded students around the world. Nobody knows everything, but everybody knows something,” said Borkowski. “Thanks to our fantastic investors, Brainly has the opportunity to further expand on this vision within the United States, while continuing to explore other international markets in Asia, Europe and South America.”