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"Blackboard killer" Instructure.com Closes Initial Funding Round - BYU Founders Close to Deals with Universities
Devlin Daley and Brian Whitmer seem to have hit a vein; local investors agree, and have funded Instructure.com to the tune of $50,000. This will take them through 1 year from now, and into near-complete product development and launch. The team has a meeting with several venture capital firms (vSpring among them) this week, so more deals are likely forthcoming.
After years of dealing with the holes and problems with Blackboard, the software that helps universities around the country manage their students, classrooms, grades, etc., the 2 Computer Science PhD's from Brigham Young University in Provo, UT decided to do something about it. They founded Instructure.com.
Many startups make the mistake of spending too much time developing a product before talking to customers to make sure they're making something that will sell. Instructure.com has done the reverse. They've spent the bulk of their time talking to universities before developing it so that they are sure they are building the right thing. The team just finished a nation-wide tour. As they criss-crossed the country's universities, their strategy was simple. "We just asked the school's CTO's what their frustrations with Blackboard were," Devlin told me in an informal chat on campus. They told us, "If you can fix problems x through y, you've got a deal. We'll try your software."
I'm excited to see what comes of this (and so should the millions of students who use Blackboard). I'll keep you posted on any developments on the story.
Edited for clarity.
