CircleIn

What CircleIn does

CircleIn, Inc. is a U.S.-based education technology company that operates a mobile-first peer collaboration and AI tutoring platform for higher education. Its core product, the CircleIn Platform, creates a virtual student community organized around each class, with features including Study Rooms (video-enabled collaborative spaces), Class Chats (continuous cohort messaging for 25-300+ students), shared Flashcards and Notes, a Workflow task tracker with gamified incentives, and Direct Messaging. In 2020 the company layered in a proprietary AI Tutor module, developed with National Science Foundation Phase II grant support, that delivers step-by-step, 24/7 academic help with explicit guardrails around academic integrity.

The company's business model is freemium at the student and faculty level — students and professors can use the platform at no cost — while monetization is concentrated in institutional subscriptions paid by colleges and universities. The first disclosed institutional price point is a $3,500 support fee per institution for AI Tutor access for up to 1,000 students. CircleIn sells to higher education institutions through direct enterprise sales (provosts, deans, student success leaders), 20-minute on-demand webinars, free trials, and strategic channel partnerships — notably with HACU (50 member institutions committed for Fall 2025) and ICLCA. NSF Phase II grants, an American Family Insurance Institute grant, and founder capital have historically underwritten R&D rather than commercial revenue, which remains undisclosed.

CircleIn is privately held, headquartered in Washington, D.C., with 11-50 employees. The platform is deployed across almost all 50 U.S. states and is documented at institutions including the University of South Carolina, University of North Dakota, Miami Dade College, CUNY York College, Monroe Community College, the University of Alaska Anchorage, and IUPUI. Reported outcome data from partner institutions includes a 13.5 percentage point lift in student persistence (Monroe CC), a 33% reduction in D/F/W rates in gateway courses (IUPUI), and statistically significant GPA gains particularly for Black and Hispanic students, positioning CircleIn as a student-success and equity-focused platform for commuter, online, and minority-serving institutions.

Name

CircleIn

Legal name

CircleIn, Inc.

Website

https://circleinapp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CircleIn operates a mobile-first peer collaboration and AI tutoring platform for U.S. colleges and universities, offering free student access and institutional subscriptions to improve persistence, GPA, and D/F/W rates in gateway courses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Student Access (Freemium): Core platform access for students is free. Students can use study rooms, class chats, flashcards, notes sharing, and workflow features at no cost.
2. Institutional Subscription: Colleges and universities pay for platform access. Pricing includes AI Tutor features with support fees; example: $3,500 support fee for AI Tutor access for up to 1,000 students (with $17,500 savings from standard pricing) for HACU member institutions.
3. NSF Grant Funding: National Science Foundation has provided Phase II grant funding to support platform development and expansion to partner schools.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CircleIn is a mobile-first student collaboration and AI tutoring platform that provides colleges and universities with a virtual student community where peers study together through video study rooms, class chats, shared flashcards and notes, and workflow task management. The platform also offers an AI Tutor module for 24/7 step-by-step academic help. Institutional customers pay subscription and AI Tutor support fees, while students, professors, and school leaders receive free access to the core platform.

Product overview

CircleIn is a student success platform designed for colleges and universities to improve retention and graduation rates. The platform consists of the CircleIn core platform, which provides a Virtual Student Community where students can collaborate, combined with an AI Tutor module for 24/7 AI-powered academic support. Key features include Class Chats for real-time peer communication, Study Rooms for video-based collaborative studying, Workflow for assignment tracking, Flashcards for study material creation, and Direct Message for private peer communication. The platform enables students to earn points for participation that can be redeemed for gift cards and scholarships, creating gamified incentives for engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CircleIn Platform Core SaaS platform sold to colleges and universities that provides a virtual student community where classmates collaborate through Study Rooms, Class Chats, Flashcards, Notes, Workflow task management, and Direct Messaging. Designed to improve retention and graduation rates by reducing DFW rates in gateway courses.
• AI Tutor

Quantifiable outcome

• 13.5 percentage point lift in student persistence
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ICLCA (International College Learning Center Association)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 June 2026Partnership to help learning center and tutoring center leaders bring responsible AI tutoring to students as part of campus student success strategy. Focus is on expanding access to high-quality academic support for students needing help outside normal hours or hesitant to ask for in-person help. ICLCA members can learn about implementation models and see CircleIn's AI Tutor in action.
• HACU (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 January 2025Partnership to help over 600 HACU member colleges and universities accelerate student success for over 5 million students. 50 HACU member institutions get free access to AI Tutor in Fall 2025 for up to 1,000 students each. Target courses include math, science, nursing, STEM. CircleIn offers evidence-based support to demonstrate improvement in course pass rates and increased credit hours earned.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Chegg: Publicly-traded edtech incumbent offering textbook rentals, homework help, tutoring, and AI study tools to college students. Comparable in target customer (college students) and use cases (homework help, tutoring), but a much broader, more diversified offering.
• Khan Academy: Mission-driven free learning platform with Khanmigo, its AI tutor/guide, serving students and increasingly higher-ed learners. Comparable to CircleIn's AI Tutor + free student access model, but operates at vastly larger scale with a K-12 focus and non-profit backing.

Direct peers

• Numerade: Video and AI tutoring platform focused on STEM homework help for college and high school students. Comparable to CircleIn on STEM-specific AI tutoring and student-tutoring access, with a more video-first delivery model.
• Brainly: Peer-to-peer homework help and tutoring platform serving students globally with crowdsourced answers and AI-assisted explanations. Closely comparable to CircleIn's peer-led homework help and AI Tutor model for K-12 and early college learners.
• Quizlet: Consumer-facing study platform built around flashcards, practice tests, and collaborative study sets. Comparable to CircleIn's Flashcards, Notes Sharing, and study group features, though Quizlet is consumer-first with lighter institutional monetization.
• Knack: Peer-tutoring marketplace that matches college students with peers for paid tutoring sessions. Comparable to CircleIn's higher-ed peer-tutoring positioning, though Knack is a transactional marketplace rather than a community platform.
• Tutor.com: On-demand 1:1 online tutoring service used by higher-ed institutions and libraries as a student-success offering. Comparable to CircleIn's institutional deployment model for academic support, though Tutor.com delivers human tutors rather than peer/community learning.
• Course Hero: Study resource platform offering course-specific study materials, tutor help, and AI study tools for college students. Comparable to CircleIn's college-student homework help, shared notes, and AI Tutor capabilities, with a subscription-led monetization model.

Emerging players

• Photomath: AI-powered math problem-solving app that walks students through step-by-step solutions. Comparable to CircleIn's AI Tutor for step-by-step STEM learning help, but narrower in scope (math only) and consumer-led rather than institution-led.
• StudySoup: Marketplace for student-generated study materials, notes, and tutoring sessions, primarily targeting college students. Comparable to CircleIn's notes/flashcards sharing and student-to-student support, though with a more transactional marketplace model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/circlein_app
• Facebookfacebook.com/CircleInapp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heycirclein
• Instagraminstagram.com/circlein_app

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors3 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 CircleIn