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InstaEDU has raised $5.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Key people at InstaEDU.
InstaEDU has raised $5.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
InstaEDU operated an on-demand online tutoring marketplace, connecting students with tutors from universities like Stanford, UC Berkeley, and MIT for one-on-one video, voice, or text sessions across over 2,500 subjects. The platform facilitated flexible learning, with students paying as little as 40 cents per minute for sessions, while tutors earned approximately $20 per hour. By October 2012, the service had approximately 1,000 tutors, expanding to over 3,000 tutors by 2014. InstaEDU was subsequently acquired by Chegg Inc. for $30 million in June 2014, integrating its technology and tutor network into Chegg's educational offerings. The company was founded in May 2012 by Alison Johnston and Joey Shurtleff. Its business model centers on marketplace model where students paid per minute for tutoring sessions.
Key people at InstaEDU.
InstaEDU was an online platform that connected high school and college students needing academic help with expert tutors from top universities, offering instant, affordable one-on-one sessions via video, voice, or text.[1][2][3] It served students seeking on-demand tutoring in subjects like STEM, solving the problems of high costs and scheduling limitations of traditional in-home tutoring by enabling connections in under a minute at a fraction of the price—often around 40 cents per minute for tutors.[1][3][4] Founded in 2011 and launched in beta in 2012, it grew rapidly with over 3,000 tutors (many from Stanford, UC Berkeley, and MIT), 1,200 signed up early on, and profitable tutoring operations, raising $5.1 million before its acquisition by Chegg in 2014 for approximately $30 million in cash.[2][3][4]
InstaEDU emerged from founders Alison Johnston Rue (then 25, ex-Google marketer), her brother Dan Johnston (22, Stanford student), and Joey Shurtleff (25, Stanford acquaintance), who first ran Cardinal Scholars (or Cardinal Tutors), an in-home tutoring business across Palo Alto, New York, and Boston starting around 2011.[1][2][6] After nine months, they identified key market gaps—high costs (often 3x more than online alternatives) and geographic dependence—prompting a pivot to online on-demand tutoring with InstaEDU's first code written in November 2011, private alpha in February 2012, and public beta in May 2012.[1][2] Early traction included $1.1 million seed funding from Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social+Capital Partnership and angels, followed by a $4 million Series A led by Battery Ventures in 2013, building a tutor base from top schools and scaling to thousands of users.[1][3][4]
InstaEDU rode the early 2010s boom in online education and edtech marketplaces, capitalizing on rising demand for affordable, scalable alternatives to in-person services amid smartphone proliferation and cultural shifts toward digital learning.[2][4] Its timing aligned with platforms like Chegg expanding beyond textbooks, influencing the one-on-one tutoring market by proving on-demand models could disrupt high-cost legacy services and build large tutor networks.[3] By fostering a gig-economy for student tutors and serving irregular learner schedules, it helped normalize instant academic support, paving the way for broader edtech consolidation—exemplified by its 2014 acquisition by Chegg, which integrated it into a larger ecosystem and amplified investor interest in tutoring tech.[3][4]
Post-acquisition by Chegg in 2014, InstaEDU's standalone operations ceased, but its technology and model likely enhanced Chegg's tutoring offerings under CEO Dan Rosensweig, contributing to Chegg's growth from textbook rentals to a comprehensive platform.[3] Founders like Alison Johnston Rue and Dan Johnston leveraged the exit—Dan later co-founding WorkStep—demonstrating edtech's high-return potential.[5] Looking ahead, InstaEDU's legacy endures in today's AI-augmented tutoring giants, where trends like personalized learning and gig tutor marketplaces continue evolving; its influence underscores how early disruptors accelerated affordable education access, shaping a more democratized ecosystem.[1][2][4]
InstaEDU has raised $5.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $4.0M Series A in August 2013.
InstaEDU has raised $5.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
InstaEDU's investors include Brian O’Malley, 10100, 2048 Ventures, 2xN, Kevin Hartz, ACME Capital, AirAngels, Andreessen Horowitz, Atomic, August Capital, Benchmark, Bessemer Venture Partners.
