Founded in 2006, Course Hero is an online learning community devoted to the sharing of academic knowledge between students and educators regardless of geography. Based in the Bay Area, the company’s peer-collaboration platform brings top educational resources to students at different levels—at a price less than that of a textbook. Whether it’s flash cards, lecture notes, tutoring, or assessment tools, Course Hero has become an entire learning ecosystem for millions. The inspiration for Course Hero—like for so many startups that Maveron partners with—was born of a single individual trying to solve a problem. Andrew Grauer was a Cornell student who missed a class and realized there had to be a better way to get caught up than asking a stranger for notes.

We connected with Andrew by reaching out to him ourselves after noticing the phenomenal growth rate in traffic in his young website. Course Hero helps to make consumer-facing education a key component of Maveron’s expertise.