SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Startup Weekend, a non-profit that helps entrepreneurs launch their businesses in one weekend, and Grockit, a social-learning Internet start-up, along with the Kauffman Foundation, today announced a dedicated education (EDU) vertical within Startup Weekend. Startup Weekend EDU is designed to attract and assist entrepreneurs working to bring new solutions to education.
The Startup Weekend EDU series will kick-off in San Francisco on October 15, head to Washington, D.C. on October 22, and cross the Atlantic for an event in London on October 29. Beyond the three Startup Weekends planned for October, the series will announce additional events around the country and world taking place over the next twelve months, including a pre-kickoff event in Seattle on September 30th.
"It will be the bold ideas of entrepreneurs, who bring forth new ventures, that necessarily disrupt and evolve education," says Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation. "We are pleased that Grockit is joining us on this important vertical of Startup Weekend. Indeed, Grockit exhibits the radical perspective and technological approach that can make a difference in the way students learn."
Startup Weekends are 54-hour events where developers, designers, marketers, product managers, and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups. During the events, technical, business, and financial resources are made available to entrepreneurs to help launch their products and companies. The goal of Startup Weekend EDU is to bring new innovations to education. Grockit hosted an initial Startup Weekend EDU event for a sold-out crowd in San Francisco earlier this summer.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to involve the Startup Weekend community in tackling some of the biggest challenges we face today,” says Marc Nager, CEO of Startup Weekend. “By building these businesses we can not only impact the educational system in individual communities, but all over the world.”
The series is backed by the Kauffman Foundation, which is a top private funder of economic research related to growth and innovation in the United States. The foundation also plays a leading role in educational reform.
To register for the San Francisco, Washington, D.C. or London Startup Weekend EDU events please visit edu.startupweekend.org. To learn more about becoming a Startup Weekend organizer please visit startupweekend.org/about/event.
About Startup Weekend
Startup Weekend is a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based in Seattle, Washington, USA, that organizes 54-hour weekend events during which groups of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more pitch ideas for new startup companies, form teams around those ideas, and work to develop a working prototype, demo, and/or presentation by Sunday evening. In the past 3 years Startup Weekend has grown into an organization with a global presence, having organized over 300 events spanning 150 cities and 90 countries. Startup Weekend's stated mission is to be the most valuable and influential organization in fostering startup communities around the world. In September 2010, Startup Weekend received a grant from The Kauffman Foundation, the largest foundation for entrepreneurship in the world. For more information, visit www.startupweekend.org.
About Grockit
Grockit was created to improve academic achievement and extend learning outside of the classroom. By applying adaptive learning algorithms and innovative social networking and online gaming technologies, students experience a fun and engaging way to master academic skills and achieve personal best scores on standardized tests. The diagnostic, prescriptive and adaptive nature of the underlying Grockit platform ensures that each student receives a personalized learning experience, designed to help them overcome areas of academic weakness. Founded in 2007 by Farb Nivi, a former Teacher of the Year for The Princeton Review and academic director at Kaplan, Grockit is headquartered in San Francisco and has received funding from Atlas Venture, Benchmark Capital, Integral Capital Partners and prominent angel investors including Reid Hoffman (founder, LinkedIn) and Mark Pincus (founder and CEO, Zynga). For more information, please visit www.grockit.com.