Campuswire Raises $3.6 Million to Improve Online Class Discussions

Leaving college before graduation can be a tough decision for anyone, let alone the son of a college professor. And yet, Tade Oyerinde took the plunge in 2014, leaving the University of Leeds in England to dedicate his time to developing a tool to improve digital communications in the classroom. “My mom was not thrilled,” jokes Oyerinde, 26. “Technically, I'm still on a leave of absence, and that's also how my mother prefers to refer to it.”But now, he has some good news to share with his mother and the world. Oyerinde’s New York-based startup, Campuswire, has raised a $3.6 million seed round with participation from Bloomberg Beta, Rethink Education, Precursor Ventures, Betaworks and angels including Rob Hayes, Doug Scott and Jason Citron, the founder of Discord. The money will go toward expanding the team of 11 full-time employees to improve and refine the product, which Oyerinde describes as a mix of Slack, Reddit and Piazza. The Campuswire platform comes as a desktop, iPhone or Android app that offers a forum for students’ questions. Students can start group chats and message people directly. Reddit-style voting keeps the best answers most visible for students. And the platform prevents duplicate questions from students.