SERIOUSLY SERIAL: The education business is not for the weak-willed. But that's not stopping two hardy industry veterans from starting their own new ventures, both aimed at improving the college experience for college students.
Karan Goel, former co-founder of PrepMe (Ascend Learning acquired the technology in 2011 and Naviance bought the test prep business in 2012), unveiled GetSet, a college dropout prevention tool that helps students set goals and connect with peers based on similar backgrounds, or through asking questions. According to TechCrunch, GetSet uses natural language processing to make these matches and will be piloting with 10,000 students at Arizona State University. Goel is reportedly looking to raise $2.5 million in seed capital.
Vineet Madan, a former executive at McGraw-Hill who oversaw the sale of the publisher's education division to Apollo Global Management in 2012, launched Junction Education, an adaptive learning platform described by EDUKWEST as a "Flipboard for college courses." Madan told EdSurge that his goal is to provide a "content-agnostic platform integrator" that allows instructors to bring together videos, assessments, and learning resources of any format.
