CourseNetworking

What CourseNetworking does

CourseNetworking (CN) is a privately held education-technology company that builds a social, networking-oriented Learning Management System (LMS) and lifelong ePortfolio platform, targeting educational institutions, professional associations, and nonprofit organizations. Founded in 2011 by IUPUI CyberLab director Ali Jafari with seed funding and intellectual support from Indiana University, the company positions its product as the fourth generation of enterprise learning environment software to emerge from the CyberLab research lineage (predecessors include Oncourse/Sakai, ANGEL Learning — acquired by Blackboard for $100M in 2009 — and Epsilen). The product suite centers on CN ePortfolio (a lifelong webpage for students to showcase learning, with assessment engine and analytics), CN Post (an LTI 1.3 plugin that adds social discussion, polling, gamification, and AI to existing LMS installations), and the CN LMS Suite (CN Classic LMS, CN Pathway LMS for self-paced learning, and an LMS for Zoom App). All products are hosted on AWS, mobile-friendly, and compliant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, FERPA, GDPR, and the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield. An AI personal assistant named Rumi was introduced in 2024, and the platform supports integrations with Microsoft Immersive Reader, Talogy, Google Scholars, ORCID, Turnitin, and Zoom.

The business operates three revenue channels: (1) low-cost annual institutional licensing (the primary revenue stream), (2) freemium individual ePortfolio accounts with paid upgrades, and (3) professional services for implementation, training, and custom development. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales (Request a Demo motion) with PLG through free ePortfolios, an LTI marketplace presence across all four major LMS platforms, regional ambassadors in Europe and APAC, the CN Consortium of institutions and SMEs, and the 501(c)(3) CN World program (launched 2022) which provides free perpetual licenses to qualified institutions in developing countries. Operations are distributed across Indianapolis (HQ), Kuala Lumpur (APAC business development), and Guangzhou (engineering and R&D), with a headcount of 1-10 and total disclosed funding of approximately $1.68M across two rounds (2011 and 2014). The customer base spans U.S. higher education (IUPUI, University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka, Sri Vishnu in India, UCSI College in Malaysia, Lorain County JVS, CCTE with 7,000+ learners across 250 institutions), DEI and teacher certification bodies (IDC, ASSET), and community-research nonprofits (Cure CMD, SEFI).

Name

CourseNetworking

Legal name

CourseNetworking

Website

https://thecn.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CourseNetworking is an Indianapolis-based ed-tech company that sells a social LMS, lifelong ePortfolio, and LTI plugin suite to universities, K-12 schools, professional associations, and nonprofits globally, with operations in the U.S., Malaysia, and China.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Learning Management Systems (EdTech Software)

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Core LMS Platforms (Academic & Corporate) (EDAFAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

LMS Integrations, Interoperability & Identity (LTI/SCORM/xAPI, SSO, APIs) (EDAFAAAI), Standards, Packaging & Interoperability Tools (SCORM/xAPI/cmi5/LTI) (EDAFAHAH), LMS Analytics, Insights & Learning Record Stores (LRS) (EDAFAAAJ)

Keywords

• Learning management system
• Educational ePortfolio platform
• LMS LTI integration
• Social learning software
• Institutional course delivery

Headquarters

HQ city

Indianapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Institutional Licensing: Low-cost institutional licensing for programs and universities providing access to CN ePortfolio, CN Post (LTI), and CN LMS Suite with Zoom App integration. This is the primary revenue stream.
2. Individual Premium Accounts: Free lifelong ePortfolio and limited course quota for individuals with optional upgrades for advanced features and additional course quota.
3. Professional Services: Implementation consultation, training, and support services for institutional clients including onboarding, migration assistance, and custom development.
4. CN World Free Licenses: Free perpetual software licenses provided to qualified institutions in developing countries through the nonprofit CN World organization, while commercializing products to non-qualified institutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

CourseNetworking develops and provides cloud-based ePortfolio, Learning Management System (LMS), and LTI plugin tools for educational institutions and corporate training. Its core products include CN ePortfolio (a lifelong digital portfolio for students), CN Post (an LTI plugin for social discussion in any LMS), and the CN LMS Suite (CN Classic LMS, CN Pathway LMS, and LMS for Zoom App), augmented by an AI personal assistant named Rumi, gamification, analytics, and digital credentialing.

Product overview

CourseNetworking offers a comprehensive suite of educational technology products centered around social, global, and engaging learning. The core portfolio includes CN ePortfolio (a lifelong digital portfolio for showcasing learning experiences), CN Post (an LTI plugin for social discussion), and the CN LMS Suite with multiple delivery options: CN Classic LMS for traditional courses, CN Pathway LMS for self-paced learning, and LMS for Zoom App for video-integrated learning. An AI Personal Assistant named Rumi provides AI-powered learner support. The products integrate via LTI with major LMS platforms (Moodle, Canvas, D2L, Blackboard) and offer gamification, analytics, and certification features. The company also operates CN World (free platform for developing nations) and the CN Consortium for community collaboration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CN ePortfolio A lifelong digital portfolio platform for students to showcase learning experiences, competencies, and achievements, with complete assessment engine, comprehensive analytics, and certified artifacts. Used by institutions for program-wide and institution-wide implementation.
• CN Post (LTI) An LTI 1.3 compliant plugin tool that integrates with Moodle, Canvas, D2L, and Blackboard to add social media-style posting, polling, gamification, AI assistance, automated grading, and rich analytics to existing LMS environments.
• CN Pathway LMS An AI-powered self-paced online learning LMS with automated digital certificate issuance upon course completion, designed for asynchronous learners and corporate training.
• CN Classic LMS A full-featured LMS for traditional course delivery, online courses, hybrid courses, and corporate training, with social networking, ePortfolio integration, and comprehensive functionalities.
• LMS for Zoom App An LMS designed specifically for use with Zoom App, enabling online course delivery with built-in video conferencing and synchronous collaboration capabilities.
• AI Personal Assistant: Rumi An AI-powered personal assistant integrated into the CN platform to provide learners with intelligent learning support and assistance.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% licensing exam pass rate for ASSET program first cohort
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

AI capability10 records

Feature13 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.

• CN WorldcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022CN World is a nonprofit 501(C)(3) organization launched in 2022 to offer free and open teaching and learning software tools to teachers and students in developing countries. CN provides free perpetual software license to bridge the digital divide.
• Indiana University / IUPUI CyberLabcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Founding partner and co-founder of CourseNetworking LLC. IUPUI CyberLab provides research and intellectual support for CN design, development, and implementation. Dr. Ali Jafari serves as CEO and is also Professor and CyberLab Director at IUPUI.
• CN ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroup of institutions and subject matter experts assembled by CN to review and refine CN products, share successful use cases among ed-tech stakeholders, and spread knowledge on best practices in teaching, learning, and ed-tech implementation.
• IUPUI CyberLabcoreTechnology or IntegrationResearch and development center in the School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI. Provides research and intellectual support for design, development, and implementation of innovative educational technology including CN.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreTechnology or IntegrationCN is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS), adhering to industry-leading standards and certifications. AWS provides cloud infrastructure with redundancy of nodes in different locations for reliability and resilience.
• Talogy (formerly PSI)strategicTechnology or IntegrationCustom integration with IDC's exam service provider Talogy for automated exam scheduling, delivery, and results integration as part of CN certification program features.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Instructure (Canvas): Provider of Canvas LMS, the dominant modern LMS in higher education. CN Post integrates with Canvas via LTI, and CN competes against Canvas for full LMS replacement deals at universities.
• Blackboard: Legacy LMS incumbent that acquired ANGEL Learning (founded by CN's current CEO) for $100M in 2009. Competes with CN in higher education and offers its own social/portfolio features.
• PowerSchool (Schoology): Unified K-12 education technology platform including the Schoology LMS. Competes with CN's K-12 and vocational education segments and offers LMS, portfolio, and analytics capabilities at greater scale.
• Coursera: Large-scale MOOC and online credentialing platform. Comparable to CN's MOOC-oriented features and certificate/badge issuance for professional learning, though Coursera operates at much larger consumer scale.
• edX: Major MOOC platform founded by Harvard and MIT (now 2U). Comparable to CN in MOOC course delivery and credentialing, with overlapping institutional partnerships in higher education.

Direct peers

• Moodle: Open-source LMS widely adopted globally in higher education and K-12. CN Post is offered as an LTI plugin for Moodle, while CN LMS competes with Moodle for institution-wide deployments seeking social and ePortfolio features beyond Moodle's core.
• D2L (Brightspace): Commercial LMS vendor focused on higher education and corporate training. CN Post integrates with D2L via LTI, and CN competes with Brightspace for institutional LMS contracts.
• Portfolium (Instructure): ePortfolio platform acquired by Instructure. Most direct comparable to CN ePortfolio in the lifelong digital portfolio space for higher education students and career readiness.

Emerging players

• Open edX: Open-source MOOC and online course platform originally developed by MIT and Harvard. Comparable to CN's MOOC and self-paced learning offerings (CN Pathway LMS), particularly for institutional online programs.
• Pathbrite: ePortfolio and competency-based learning platform. Comparable to CN ePortfolio for student portfolio creation, skills documentation, and institutional assessment workflows.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/coursenetwork
• Facebookfacebook.com/CourseNetworking
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coursenetworking

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors

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 CourseNetworking