What Minerva Project does

Minerva Project, Inc. is a privately held, San Francisco-based education company founded in 2011 by Ben Nelson that partners with universities, governments, and corporations to redesign higher-education programs around an evidence-based, active-learning methodology. Its integrated offering combines three service modules — Institutional Architecture & Program Design, Faculty Development & Capacity Building, and Outcomes & Impact Enablement — delivered alongside Forum®, a purpose-built proprietary learning platform that supports active-learning seminars, tracks interdisciplinary skills across learner journeys, streamlines course design, and enables authentic assessment on shared learning outcomes. The company generates revenue through multi-year institutional consulting engagements, subscription-based Forum® hosting, and bespoke executive / professional learning programs (e.g., Dubai AI Academy, Berkeley Law Leadership in the Legal Profession, Yale SOM Experienced Leaders Initiative, Bentley Executive Education in Health Industry). Its flagship partner is Minerva University (fully WSCUC-accredited since 2021 and named WURI Most Innovative University in the World in 2022-2026), and Minerva Baccalaureate extends the same system into secondary education. By 2025 the company reported partnerships with 30+ institutions across five continents reaching 40,000+ learners, with one anchor partner, Universidad del Valle de México, alone serving 120,000 learners.

Name

Minerva Project

Legal name

Minerva Project, Inc.

Website

https://minervaproject.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Minerva Project partners with universities, governments, and corporations to redesign higher-education programs using a proprietary active-learning methodology and its Forum® learning platform, serving 40,000+ learners across 30+ institutions on five continents.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education Technology / Learning Platforms

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Business Schools and Computer and Management Training (6114)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Project- & Inquiry-Based Digital Learning Modules (EDAFACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Higher Education Digital Courseware & Modules (EDAGAEAB), Higher Education Course Design & Online Program Development (EDAGAKAB), Online Divisions of Traditional Universities (Hybrid/Extension) (EDAHALAB)

Keywords

• Higher education transformation
• Learning platform software
• Active learning seminars
• Institutional program design
• Skills-based curriculum

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Institutional partnerships for program and university transformation: Multi-year consulting and design engagements with universities, governments, and corporations to design new programs, new colleges, or entirely new institutions; delivered as professional services bundled with Forum® deployment.
2. Forum® platform hosting and licensing: Hosted SaaS delivery of the proprietary Forum® learning platform to partner institutions, providing the technology backbone for active learning, skills tracking, and assessment.
3. Executive / professional learning programs: Bespoke executive education programs (e.g., Berkeley Law Leadership in the Legal Profession, Yale SOM Experienced Leaders Initiative, Dubai AI Academy for 10,000 leaders) sold to corporate, governmental, and professional cohorts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

Minerva Project sells a three-element higher-education transformation solution centered on Forum®, its proprietary hosted learning platform. The bundle combines Institutional Architecture & Program Design, Faculty Development & Capacity Building, and Outcomes & Impact Enablement services, delivered as multi-year consulting and platform-licensing engagements to universities, governments, and corporations that want to redesign curricula, launch new programs, or build entirely new institutions.

Product overview

Minerva Project offers an integrated three-element solution delivered primarily through Forum®, its purpose-built learning platform. The solution combines Institutional Architecture & Program Design, Faculty Development & Capacity Building, and Outcomes & Impact Enablement to help partner institutions transform higher-education outcomes. Forum® is the core technology that delivers active-learning seminars, tracks interdisciplinary skills across learner journeys, streamlines course design, and enables authentic assessment across modalities. Minerva University (the flagship partner) and Minerva Baccalaureate (the secondary-school sub-brand) extend the same System from graduate school down through middle school.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Minerva University: Flagship four-year undergraduate university and first partner of Minerva Project, recognized as the most innovative university in the world by WURI. Operates its own website at minerva.edu.
• Minerva Baccalaureate
• Forum®

Products and services

• Forum® Learning Platform Hosted SaaS platform that integrates active learning seminars, real-time engagement, interdisciplinary skills tracking, course design/learning-outcome mapping, and authentic assessment for partner institutions and their learners.
• Institutional Architecture & Program Design Service offering that connects institutional mission to skill-focused learning, articulates measurable learning outcomes in an institution-wide skills taxonomy, and interweaves those outcomes throughout the curriculum for partner universities and new institutions.
• Faculty Development & Capacity Building Service offering that strengthens internal capabilities of partner institutions to drive transformation and build a culture of innovation, including active-learning instructor training.
• Outcomes & Impact Enablement Service offering that connects educational experiences across modalities using Forum® to enable skill transfer across contexts, measuring institutional progress with proprietary learning data.
• Minerva University Sub-brand university that delivers Minerva's interdisciplinary undergraduate curriculum on Forum® and active-learning seminars, with students living and studying in seven global cities.
• Minerva Baccalaureate Secondary-school curricula product that extends Minerva's learning system from middle school through graduate school and beyond.
• Executive / Professional Learning Programs Bespoke executive and professional education programs sold to corporate, governmental, and professional cohorts, including the Berkeley Law Leadership in the Legal Profession, Yale SOM Experienced Leaders Initiative, Bentley healthcare leadership program, and Dubai AI Academy.

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Coursera: Coursera partners with universities to offer online degrees, certificates, and now generative-AI credential programs — overlapping with Minerva's university partnership motion and increasingly with executive/professional learning cohorts.
• 2U: 2U (operator of edX and formerly the leading OPM platform) partners with top universities to deliver online degrees and short courses — directly comparable to Minerva's higher-ed partnership model, and a significantly larger, publicly-traded competitor.
• Noodle: Noodle partners with universities and colleges to design, launch, and support online and hybrid degree programs — directly comparable to Minerva Project's institutional program-design and partnership motion, and competes for the same university transformation budgets.
• Academic Partnerships: Academic Partnerships is one of the largest online program management (OPM) companies, helping public and private universities recruit for and operate online degree programs — a direct competitor to Minerva's institutional partnership model and Forum® deployments.

Broad incumbents

• Instructure (Canvas): Instructure's Canvas is the leading learning management system used by universities worldwide and increasingly bundles course design and outcomes tooling — a broader incumbent platform whose capabilities overlap with Forum®'s active-learning and assessment features.
• Huron Consulting Group: Huron's Higher Education practice advises universities on strategy, academic transformation, technology enablement, and operational improvement — competing for the same institutional transformation consulting engagements as Minerva Project.
• Wiley Education Services: Wiley Education Services is an established OPM and corporate learning provider that helps universities design, market, and run online programs — comparable to Minerva's institutional partnership model from inside a much larger education publishing business.
• EAB: EAB provides research, consulting, and technology services to higher-education leaders on enrollment, student success, and academic program innovation — comparable as a higher-ed transformation partner with broader portfolio depth than Minerva.

Emerging players

• Guild Education: Guild partners with employers and universities to deliver education benefits and workforce-relevant degree pathways — adjacent to Minerva's executive/professional learning stream and increasingly its university transformation work.
• Kepler (Nebrija / Kepler Education): Kepler partners with universities (notably Universidad Nebrija) to deliver skills-based online degree programs with structured active learning — a smaller, niche emerging player whose skill-focused, mentor-led model intersects with Minerva's pedagogy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/minerva-project
• Xx.com/minervaproject

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors10 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Minerva Project