A focus on mobile technology has made it possible for
StudyBlue to sign up
millions of students. The Wisconsin-based startup firm developed a “digital
backpack” of web and mobile tools students use to organize their course
materials into flashcards, quizzes, and study guides available anytime on their
smartphone or tablet computer.
Students can use the tool to share content, which StudyBlue
has collected a into a huge library of study materials created by its users. The free
platform also provides premium subscriptions for services such as advanced
search filters and an offline study mode that students pay a monthly fee to
use, giving the company a way to produce revenue.
The service has 2.5 million users, adding 1.5 million
new users in the last year alone, while increasing its user base from 100%
college students in 2009 to more than 30% of the total now being high school
students and their teachers. StudyBlue recently made it possible for teachers
to identify themselves so their students can find the material they are sharing.
The company plans to expand tool functions for teachers.
The growth has also allowed StudyBlue to attract
venture capital, including $9 million from Great Oaks Venture Capital on Jan.
4.
“We are experiencing rapid growth and this financing
allows us to further expand our community and platform to help students master
their course material faster and connect students to a comprehensive
crowdsourced library of content on nearly any subject, and to each other, in a
highly relevant way,” StudyBlue CEO Becky Splitt told TechCrunch.
