Edtech Investors, Mark Cuban Back Online Discussion Platform Popular With College Faculty

CHICAGO, Jan. 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Packback, developer of AI-powered learning communities popular among college faculty, announced today that it has raised $4.2 million in a Series A funding round led by leading edtech investor University Ventures, with participation from previous investors including Mark Cuban, Wintrust Ventures, and Wildcat Capital.

"Faculty have embraced Packback's unique approach because it is rooted in pedagogical practices that we know work, but are often hard to scale," said Professor Dr. Matt J. Goren of the University of Georgia. "Packback has helped me foster a rich, interactive dialogue with individual students in ways that cultivate curiosity and enhanced learning. It's also made it possible to incorporate - and grade - meaningful discussion in my classroom of over 2,000 students a year."

Packback's core product is an AI-powered online discussion platform used by over 100 U.S. universities, which allows students to engage in rigorous academic discourse as a core part of their instructor's curriculum and coursework. The platform enables faculty to make use of the Socratic Method within large lectures or online classes, drawing upon Packback's unique algorithms to quantify and improve difficult-to-measure behaviors such as critical thinking and curiosity, all through analyzing a student's written questions and responses. By incorporating elements of gamification, including points and leaderboards, Packback draws upon social influence to engage students and facilitate thoughtful interaction with peers.

"We want to awaken the curiosity that lies dormant in so many students today. By providing them with a space to ask the big 'What if' questions, we challenge students to think more deeply and critically about the world around them," said Mike Shannon, Co-Founder and CEO of Packback. "Students in our discussion groups encourage and challenge one another by reading and responding to each other's questions and answers, and nominating ideas that 'spark' their curiosity."

Packback's unique, human-assisted approach to AI uses feedback from college professors to train models and data sets. Its popularity among educators stems, in part, from its reliance on best practices from cognitive science and inquiry-based learning, including well-known cognitive framework Bloom's Taxonomy.                                                                                     

"Packback's commitment to supporting faculty with tools that enable them to engage students in thoughtful, rich interactions is well aligned with our mission," said Troy Williams, Managing Director of University Ventures. "It's about moving students from asking 'What do I need to do to pass?' into provocative discussions that encourage peer feedback. Students are inherently engaged and curious. And it's the student who can ask a great question that will know how to bridge today's educational experiences to tomorrow's challenges."

About Packback
Packback creates AI-powered learning communities for professors that improve critical thinking and support curiosity in students. Packback supports engaging academic discourse, as the AI automates time-intensive activities required to maintain, moderate, and facilitate a valuable discussion. To learn more, visit www.packback.co.

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