Hypothes.is
Hypothesis is a privately held, open-source social annotation platform that integrates directly into major Learning Management Systems via LTI Advantage, serving 300+ higher education institutions and expanding into scientific publishing and journalism fact-checking use cases.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Hypothes.is does
Hypothesis is a privately held, San Francisco-based software company that operates a distributed, open-source social annotation platform primarily serving higher education. Its flagship product, the Hypothesis LMS App, integrates directly into major Learning Management Systems (Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, D2L Brightspace, Sakai, Schoology) via the LTI Advantage standard, providing SSO, automatic course roster provisioning, and a collaborative annotation sidebar that overlays webpages, PDFs, YouTube videos, images, EPUBs, VitalSource eTexts, and JSTOR articles. The company employs 11–50 staff and reports 300+ institutional customers, ~200,000 annotators, and 4.3M cumulative annotations, with a customer-reported NPS of 70.
The platform monetizes through three subscription tiers — Enterprise License (campus-wide), Pay by Seat (course-wide), and Kickstart Promotion (discounted first-time onboarding) — all with annual billing and unlimited annotations. Go-to-market combines enterprise sales for institutional deployments, self-serve sign-up for individuals, and a community-led motion anchored by the Liquid Margins video podcast, Hypothesis Academy training, Partner Workshops, and the I Annotate conference. Distribution is structurally enabled by deep LMS integration, which embeds the tool directly into existing institutional workflows rather than requiring standalone adoption.
The business has historically relied on a single disclosed funding round of $1.9M in 2016 from mission-aligned foundations (Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Omidyar Network), with no subsequent venture rounds disclosed, indicating an operationally financed model sustained by subscription revenue. The company has begun extending beyond higher education into adjacent verticals: scientific publishing via a bioRxiv/medRxiv article-level commenting partnership, journalism and fact-checking through the Climate Feedback coalition, and corporate team collaboration. The company's compliance posture includes FERPA, GDPR, WCAG 2.1 AA, Section 508, and LTI Advantage certifications.
Hypothes.is firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Hypothes.is
- Legal name
- Hypothesis, Inc.
- Website
- https://web.hypothes.is
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Hypothesis is a privately held, open-source social annotation platform that integrates directly into major Learning Management Systems via LTI Advantage, serving 300+ higher education institutions and expanding into scientific publishing and journalism fact-checking use cases.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Hypothes.is industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Educational Technology / Collaborative Learning Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design Services (541512)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- LMS Integrations, Interoperability & Identity (LTI/SCORM/xAPI, SSO, APIs) (EDAFAAAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Standards, Packaging & Interoperability Tools (SCORM/xAPI/cmi5/LTI) (EDAFAHAH), Survey, Formative Assessment & Classroom Response (Quizzes/Polls) Tools (EDAFADAN), Learning Analytics & Dashboards (Student/Teacher/Admin Insights) (EDAFAFAA)
Keywords
Where Hypothes.is is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Hypothes.is business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Enterprise License: Campus-wide deployment with full access for all classes, institutional-level reporting, live faculty training, and technical support. Includes unlimited annotations, LMS integration, and pedagogical support.
- Pay by Seat: Course-wide deployment option where pricing is based on the number of seats/users. Includes unlimited annotations, LMS integration, pedagogical support, and course-level reporting.
- Kickstart Promotion: Discounted pricing for first-time users, including free access for the rest of the academic term, free Hypothesis Academy access, and free faculty workshops.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise License - Campus-wide deployment |
| Per seat | Annual | Pay by Seat - Course-wide deployment |
| Subscription | Annual | Kickstart Promotion - First-time user discount |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Hypothes.is product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Hypothesis provides a social annotation platform that integrates directly into Learning Management Systems (Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Brightspace, Sakai, Schoology) via the LTI Advantage standard. It enables students, faculty, and teams to highlight, comment on, and discuss webpages, PDFs, videos, images, and eTexts in real time without leaving the LMS. A browser extension extends annotation to the open web for individual users.
Product overview
Hypothesis is a social annotation platform designed for higher education, offering a core LMS-integrated annotation tool along with educator resources and community programs. The flagship Hypothesis LMS App integrates via LTI Advantage into Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace, Moodle, Sakai, and Schoology, enabling annotation on web pages, PDFs, videos, images, e-texts, and scholarly articles (including JSTOR and VitalSource integration). Supporting offerings include Hypothesis Academy (self-paced training), Partner Workshops, Liquid Margins video podcast, and curated Annotation Starter Assignments covering AI literacy. The platform operates on a tiered model: Enterprise License (campus-wide), Pay by Seat (course-wide), and Kickstart Promotion (first-time users). A browser extension extends annotation to the open web, and specialized applications exist for journalism/fact-checking (e.g., Climate Feedback project). Hypothesis serves over 300 institutions with documented outcomes including 32% increase in class retention and doubled comprehension scores.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Hypothesis LMS App Flagship social annotation platform that integrates directly into Learning Management Systems (Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Brightspace, Sakai, Schoology) via LTI Advantage, enabling students, faculty, and teams to highlight, comment on, tag peers, and discuss content directly within course materials on web pages, PDFs, videos, images, and eTexts without switching platforms.
- Hypothesis Browser Extension Browser extension that enables users to annotate any webpage on the open web by activating Hypothesis in their browser, extending social annotation beyond LMS-integrated course contexts for individual researchers, faculty, and students.
- Hypothesis Academy Self-paced online course designed to equip teachers with a thorough understanding of social annotation strategies, enabling them to seamlessly incorporate annotation into their classrooms. Included free with Kickstart Promotion.
- Partner Workshops Specialized workshops conducted by the Hypothesis expert team for faculty and administrators to drive successful implementation of the social annotation platform across courses and institutions.
- Hypothesis for Journalism Specialized application of the Hypothesis annotation platform tailored for journalism, fact-checking, and civic engagement. Includes case study of Climate Feedback, where nearly 200 climate scientists use web annotation to fact-check media articles.
Quantifiable outcome
- 32% increase in class retention
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Hypothes.is
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Hypothes.is technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration15 records
AI capability8 records
Feature5 records
Hypothes.is partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- bioRxiv and medRxivcoreMulti-year partnership (since 2017) providing article-level commenting on preprints. The new feature is live on medRxiv and the neuroscience section of bioRxiv, allowing researchers, educators, and readers to engage directly with preprints, ask questions, and contribute insights.
- Climate FeedbackcoreNon-profit effort run out of UC Berkeley representing nearly 200 high-profile climate scientists using web annotation to fact-check climate change media articles. Marks up articles adding contextual information and highlighting factual inaccuracies.
- Canvas (Instructure)coreLTI Advantage compliant integration with Canvas LMS. Single Sign-On and automatic account provisioning for students enrolled in courses.
- Blackboard LearncoreLTI-compliant integration with Blackboard Learn. Hypothesis is a Blackboard Bronze Partner.
- D2L BrightspacecoreLTI-compliant integration with D2L Brightspace LMS for seamless annotation within courses.
- MoodlecoreLTI-compliant integration with Moodle LMS for collaborative annotation in courses.
- SakaicoreLTI-compliant integration with Sakai LMS for annotation capabilities.
- SchoologycoreLTI-compliant integration with Schoology LMS for collaborative annotation.
- VitalSourcecoreIntegration with VitalSource eTexts enabling annotation directly within digital textbooks. Partnership includes case study with University of Texas - Austin and University of Minnesota.
- JSTORcoreIntegration enabling annotation of JSTOR scholarly articles directly within the platform for academic research and reading.
- 1EdTechminorHypothesis is a member of 1EdTech (formerly IMS Global Learning Consortium) supporting LTI standards.
- EDUCAUSEminorHypothesis is a member of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing higher education through technology.
- Online Learning ConsortiumminorHypothesis is a member of the Online Learning Consortium focused on advancing quality online learning.
- I AnnotateminorAnnual conference on annotation in publishing, journalism, and knowledge. Hypothesis participates in and supports this community event.
- Annotating All Knowledge CoalitionminorCoalition focused on annotation of all knowledge. Hypothesis participates in this initiative.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Hypothes.is competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Yellowdig: Community-based discussion and engagement platform for higher education designed to replace or augment LMS discussion boards; competes with Hypothesis on driving active student conversation around course content.
- Actively Learn: Digital reading platform with embedded annotation, comprehension questions, and collaboration tools for ELA and content-area instruction; overlaps with Hypothesis on annotation-driven reading engagement in schools and higher-ed.
- VoiceThread: Collaborative multimedia discussion platform used in higher education for asynchronous voice/video commenting on course materials; an alternative approach to fostering student dialogue on shared content.
- Packback: AI-supported asynchronous discussion platform for higher-ed courses targeting deeper critical thinking; an indirect competitor for instructor budget and student-engagement outcomes.
- Spiral: Suite of formative assessment and classroom discussion tools (Quickfire, Discuss, Team Up) integrating with LMS platforms; competes for instructor mindshare on engagement and discussion-quality outcomes.
- Perusall: Social annotation platform purpose-built for higher-ed courses with LMS integration and AI-assisted engagement scoring; the most direct head-to-head competitor to Hypothesis in collaborative reading assignments.
- Kami: Document and PDF annotation tool widely used in K-12 and higher education, offering collaborative markup integrated with major LMS platforms; competes with Hypothesis on annotation-centric classroom workflows.
Emerging players
- Diigo: Web-based social annotation and bookmarking tool with educator and group features; an earlier-generation annotation platform with overlapping use cases but a narrower LMS-integration footprint than Hypothesis.
- nowComment: Document-based collaborative annotation tool used in education for structured close reading and discussion; an emerging player focused on a narrower annotation-only workflow compared with Hypothesis' full LMS integration.
Broad incumbents
- Instructure (Canvas): Operator of the Canvas LMS, a core Hypothesis integration partner but also a potential incumbent risk if Canvas expands native annotation and discussion features that compete with third-party tools.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Hypothes.is social profiles
Digital presenceHypothes.is compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance6 records
Hypothes.is financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hypothes.is leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Hypothes.is funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hypothes.is M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Hypothes.is
What does Hypothes.is do?
Hypothesis provides a social annotation platform that integrates directly into Learning Management Systems (Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Brightspace, Sakai, Schoology) via the LTI Advantage standard. It enables students, faculty, and teams to highlight, comment on, and discuss webpages, PDFs, videos, images, and eTexts in real time without leaving the LMS. A browser extension extends annotation to the open web for individual users.
Is Hypothes.is a public or private company?
Hypothes.is is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Hypothes.is founded?
Hypothes.is was founded in 2011. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Hypothes.is based?
Hypothes.is is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Hypothes.is make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Enterprise License is the primary driver. The others are pay by Seat and kickstart Promotion.
Who are Hypothes.is's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Yellowdig, Actively Learn, VoiceThread, Packback, Spiral, Perusall and Kami. Emerging players are Diigo and nowComment. Instructure (Canvas) is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Hypothes.is have an API?
No public API is recorded for Hypothes.is.
What industry is Hypothes.is in?
Hypothes.is's product category is Educational Technology / Collaborative Learning Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFAAAI, LMS Integrations, Interoperability & Identity (LTI/SCORM/xAPI, SSO, APIs), with a secondary code of EDAFAHAH, Standards, Packaging & Interoperability Tools (SCORM/xAPI/cmi5/LTI). Its NAICS code is 541512 and its SIC code is 7372.