Remind
Remind (previously Remind101) is a private mobile messaging platform that aims to help teachers, parents, students, and administrators in K–12 schools to communicate with everyone at once.[1] The platform has more than 20 million monthly active users across the United States.[2] As of September 2016, Remind is used in more than 50% of the public schools in the U.S.[3][4]
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| Available in | 86 languages |
|---|---|
List of languages
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| URL | remind |
| Current status | Active |
| Native client(s) on | iOS and Android |
Background
Remind101 was founded in 2011 by brothers Brett and David Kopf to help bridge the communication gap in primary education.[5][6] In 2016, they added former Bleacher Report CEO Brian Grey to the team as CEO.[7]
Brett Kopf was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder and dyslexia while he was still in school. His brother David set up a system whereby school faculty could remind him of an upcoming test. Brett credits this system with playing a part in his success in school.[4][6] The two decided to make the system into a company and became part of the first class at the Imagine K12 incubator in Palo Alto, CA, where all startups must focus on improving education.[8]
On June 16, 2014, Kopf announced that Remind101 would be changing its name simply to Remind.[9]
Educational impact
The platform is designed to increase parental engagement which has been linked to increased student performance. One study showed that in general, teacher to family communication increased homework turn in by 42%, kept students more focused and increased participation.[10]
Funding
In September 2013, Remind closed a $3.5 million round of series A financing, led by The Social+Capital Partnership, with participation from Yuri Milner, Maneesh Arora and other angel investors.[5] As part of the round, Chamath Palihapitiya joined Remind's board of directors.[5]
In February 2014, Remind raised $15 million in Series B funding led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers with additional participation from its previous investors, including Social + Capital and First Round Capital.[1][2] In coordination with the round, the company added John Doerr, a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins, to its board.[11]
In September 2014, Remind raised $40 million in Series C funding from its previous investors.
References
- Empson, Rip. "Red Hot Remind101 Gets $15M From John Doerr To Bring Free, Secure Text Messaging To Teachers". TechCrunch.
- Konrad, Alex. "Why Kleiner's John Doerr Is Joining The Board Of Teacher Messaging App Remind101". Forbes.
- Grant, Rebecca. "15% of U.S. teachers now use Remind101 to text students and their parents". VentureBeat.
- Corcoran, Betsy. "A $15 Million Boost for Remind101". EdSurge. Archived from the original on 2014-07-29.
- Empson, Rip. "Now At 30K Schools And Growing Fast, Remind101 Is On A Mission To Modernize Classroom Communication". TechCrunch.
- MOTT, NATHANIEL. "Remind101 helps teachers communicate with students without fear". Pando Daily. Archived from the original on 2014-06-13.
- Konrad, Alex. "Parent-Teacher App Remind Passes 20 Million Users, Taps Former Bleacher Report Boss As New CEO". Forbes.
- Tsotsis, Alexia. "Remind101 Is A Private Twitter For Teachers". TechCrunch.
- "Remind: New Name, Same Mission". Remind Blog. Retrieved 24 February 2018.
- Kraft, Matthew. "The Effect of Teacher-Family Communication on Student Engagement: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment". Harvard.
- "Education Startup Remind101 Nabs Kleiner-Led $15 Million". Bloomberg.