Top Hat
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersToronto, Canada
- Headcount251–500
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
Top Hat firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Top Hat
- Legal name
- Tophatmonocle (US) Corp.
- Website
- https://tophat.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 251–500 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Top Hat industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Higher Education Technology (EdTech)
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Assessment & Quiz Item Authoring Tools (within course builders) (EDAFAHAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- AI-Powered Tutoring & Study Assistant Platforms (EDANAGAD), Assessments, Quizzes & Learning Analytics Tools (MPACALAK)
Keywords
Where Top Hat is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Toronto
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Top Hat business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription Licensing (Institution): Institutions license Top Hat platform for their faculty and students, typically through annual or multi-year subscription agreements. Pricing varies based on institution size and scope of adoption.
- Student Access Codes: Students purchase access codes either directly through Top Hat website using join codes provided by instructors, or through campus bookstores. Students can subscribe for single term (4 months) or full year (12 months).
- Interactive eTextbooks: Digital textbook content sold bundled with platform access or separately. When an instructor uses a Top Hat interactive textbook, students pay one combined price for platform and textbook for that term.
- Custom Content Solutions: Fully personalized interactive textbooks created through Top Hat's Custom Solutions team for specific course objectives and affordability goals, with instructional design support.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Single Term Access |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual Access |
| Subscription | Annual | Institution-Wide Licensing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Top Hat product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Top Hat provides an interactive learning platform for higher education, delivering in-class engagement tools, an AI-powered teaching and study assistant (Ace AI), interactive eTextbooks, automated attendance tracking, and Learning Management System (LMS) integration. The platform is licensed to institutions and accessed by instructors and students for live lectures, assignments, study, and grading workflows.
Product overview
Top Hat is a comprehensive student engagement platform for higher education combining a modular architecture of core engagement tools, AI-powered features, and content solutions. The platform centers on the Ace AI Assistant for content creation and personalized study support, integrated with In-Class Engagement tools (live polling, discussions, 14+ question types) and Automatic Attendance tracking. Content offerings include Interactive eTexts, Interactive OpenStax, and Interactive Labs, supplemented by Custom Solutions for bespoke textbook creation. The platform serves 900+ institutions and syncs natively with major LMS providers (Blackboard, Canvas, D2L, Moodle, Sakai). A Wiley Partnership integrates select psychology and anatomy titles, while Aktiv Chemistry extends the platform for STEM disciplines.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Aktiv Chemistry: Chemistry-focused educational content and platform integration mentioned on Top Hat's website as a partner product offering.
Products and services
- Interactive eTexts Interactive textbook content sold to higher education institutions and accessed by instructors and students for course reading and embedded interactive activities.
Quantifiable outcome
- 97% instructor satisfaction with Top Hat support
- +9 more outcomes
Companies that use Top Hat
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Top Hat technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability8 records
Feature9 records
Top Hat partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- John Wiley & Sons (Wiley)coreExpanded AI-focused partnership where Top Hat integrates select Wiley psychology and anatomy & physiology titles into its AI-enabled student engagement platform. Wiley appointed Armughan Rafat as chief AI and data services officer to drive AI licensing and data analytics revenue streams.
- John Wiley & Sons (Wiley)corePartnership to integrate select Wiley psychology and anatomy & physiology titles into Top Hat's AI-enabled platform, positioning Wiley's effort to transform content into AI-ready data products.
- Morton Publishing CompanycoreAcquisition of Morton Publishing Company, a publisher specializing in scientific educational content used at over 1,500 institutions in the United States. Acquisition includes over 600 labs and course materials being converted into engaging, customizable digital formats for Top Hat's platform.
- OpenStaxcoreInteractive OpenStax combines Top Hat's student engagement platform with OpenStax college textbooks, featuring integrated low-stakes assessments and AI-powered personalized study support from Top Hat Ace. Available at no additional cost within Top Hat.
- Learning Management Systems (Blackboard, Canvas, D2L, Moodle, Sakai)coreSeamless integration with all major LMS platforms enabling automatic roster and grade syncing, serving as the student engagement layer that complements LMS systems of record.
- Aktiv ChemistrycoreAktiv Chemistry is featured as a product partner on Top Hat platform, with chemistry professors using the combination of Top Hat and Aktiv Chemistry to improve pass rates and final grades in first-year chemistry courses.
Scale indicators16 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Top Hat competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- iClicker: iClicker is the long-standing student response/clicker system owned by Macmillan Learning. It is the most directly comparable point solution to Top Hat's in-class polling, quiz and attendance features, serving the same instructor audience with similar classroom engagement functionality.
- Poll Everywhere: Poll Everywhere is a live polling and word cloud platform widely used in higher-ed lectures. It directly competes with Top Hat's in-class engagement layer on polls, Q&A, and quizzes, and is frequently cited as a benchmark alternative in Top Hat's own positioning.
- Kahoot!: Kahoot! offers game-based learning, quizzes, and interactive presentations used in both K-12 and higher education. It overlaps Top Hat's engagement and assessment functionality, especially in student-driven quiz formats, though its model leans more consumer/PLG than institutional enterprise.
- Turning Technologies (Insight360 / Echo360): Turning Technologies provides classroom response systems (clickers) and now operates under the Echo360 brand for lecture capture and engagement. It competes head-to-head with Top Hat's polling, attendance, and participation tracking features in higher-ed lecture halls.
Emerging players
- Perusall: Perusall is a social annotation and engagement platform that integrates with LMS systems to drive pre-class reading engagement. It targets the same higher-ed instructor pain points (engagement, accountability) as Top Hat but focuses on reading/annotation rather than live in-class polling.
- Packback: Packback is an AI-powered discussion and writing platform for higher education. It overlaps with Top Hat's Ace AI-driven discussion prompts and assessment features, particularly in the AI-assisted formative assessment category.
Broad incumbents
- Instructure (Canvas): Instructure's Canvas is the dominant modern LMS and is one of Top Hat's primary integration partners. Canvas increasingly embeds native engagement and analytics features that overlap Top Hat's layer, making Instructure a critical channel partner but also a potential competitive threat as the LMS expands.
- Pearson: Pearson is a global education publisher and digital learning provider with higher-ed courseware, MyLab, and Revel platforms. It competes indirectly with Top Hat's interactive eTextbooks and assessments across business, economics, and STEM disciplines.
- McGraw Hill Education: McGraw Hill Education provides digital textbooks, Connect, and ALEKS adaptive learning for higher education. It competes with Top Hat's interactive textbooks and assessments, particularly in STEM and business courseware categories.
- Cengage Group: Cengage is a major higher-ed publisher offering digital courseware, ebooks, and MindTap learning platforms. It competes with Top Hat across textbook content and bundled assessment offerings in the same instructor purchasing workflows.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key highlights8 records
Customer concentration
Top Hat social profiles
Digital presenceTop Hat compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Top Hat financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Top Hat leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Top Hat subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Top Hat funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds8 records
Investors15 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Top Hat M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A4 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Top Hat
What does Top Hat do?
Top Hat provides an interactive learning platform for higher education, delivering in-class engagement tools, an AI-powered teaching and study assistant (Ace AI), interactive eTextbooks, automated attendance tracking, and Learning Management System (LMS) integration. The platform is licensed to institutions and accessed by instructors and students for live lectures, assignments, study, and grading workflows.
Is Top Hat a public or private company?
Top Hat is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Top Hat founded?
Top Hat was founded in 2009. It employs 251 to 500 people.
Where is Top Hat based?
Top Hat is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Top Hat make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Subscription Licensing (Institution) is the primary driver. The others are student Access Codes, interactive eTextbooks and custom Content Solutions.
Who are Top Hat's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are iClicker, Poll Everywhere, Kahoot! and Turning Technologies (Insight360 / Echo360). Emerging players are Perusall and Packback. Broad incumbents are Instructure (Canvas), Pearson, McGraw Hill Education and Cengage Group.
Does Top Hat have an API?
No public API is recorded for Top Hat.
What industry is Top Hat in?
Top Hat's product category is Higher Education Technology (EdTech). Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFAHAG, Assessment & Quiz Item Authoring Tools (within course builders), with a secondary code of EDANAGAD, AI-Powered Tutoring & Study Assistant Platforms. Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8200.