Social learning startup Koofers today announced that it has scored $5 million in Series A equity funding. This round includes Revolution, created by AOL (yes, our new parent company) co-founder Steve Case, and Nigel Morris‘ QED Investors with participation of the company’s existing investors, New Atlantic Ventures and Altos Ventures.
Koofers aims to empower students to help each other learn by providing open and free access to course materials, class and professor ratings, study aids and more.
The company says the new capital will be used for product development, marketing and getting more content.
Koofers has aggregated data from more than 400 universities and uses social networks such as Facebook to attract students, who use the service to prepare for class, study more efficiently and save money. More than 310,000 college students have signed up so far.
Said John Backus from New Atlantic Ventures:
“Koofers is driving the reinvention of our university system. Traditionally, academic education has been top-down, with the wise teacher imparting knowledge, one way, to the blank-slate mind of the student. Social media on the web destroys this hierarchy and creates a level playing field for knowledge around the world, where students and professors learn from and teach each other.”
Founded in 2008, Koofers is headquartered in Reston, VA. Heading the company is CEO Gio Hunt, a veteran AOL executive.