ModernBrain

What ModernBrain does

ModernBrain is a private K-12 educational enrichment company founded in 2008, headquartered in Tustin, California, that delivers year-round coaching in speech, debate, mock trial, and Model United Nations to students from elementary through high school. The company operates four physical classroom locations (Irvine, San Marino, and Rancho Palos Verdes in California; Frisco in Texas) and an online channel accessible globally, and states it has served more than 4,500 families, accumulated 6,780+ competition awards, and achieved a 95%+ admission rate to top-20 colleges and universities for its mentees. Its portfolio spans foundational communication classes, specialized speech and debate formats (Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Parliamentary), mock trial simulations, MUN programs, private tutoring, and dedicated college counseling, with elite add-on competition teams for grades 8–12 (Mock Trial Nationals, Speech Nationals).

The underlying technology stack is intentionally lightweight and non-proprietary: a Squarespace-hosted website at modernbrain.com, Google Classroom as the learning management system, MailChimp for email outreach, and Remind for internal/parent communications, alongside third-party tournament platforms tabroom.com and speechwire.com for competition tracking. No mobile app, public API, SDK, or proprietary AI features were identified. The business model is tuition-based recurring revenue from class subscriptions (summer, fall, and spring sessions across multiple locations), supplemented by private tutoring, competition-team fees, and college counseling services; customer acquisition is community-led, relying on free info sessions, trial classes, a biweekly mailing list, blog content marketing, and word-of-mouth from competition outcomes. The company is private, founder-led, with no disclosed venture or private equity backing and no parent company.

Name

ModernBrain

Legal name

ModernBrain

Website

https://modernbrain.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ModernBrain is a private K-12 educational enrichment company founded in 2008 that delivers year-round speech, debate, mock trial, and Model United Nations coaching across four physical locations in California and Texas and an online channel, serving over 4,500 families.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Enrichment Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691), Educational Services (61)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAMAOAF

Speech & Debate Competition Preparation (Events, Extemp, Impromptu)

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Public Speaking & Debate Clubs

SECONDARYEDAMAOAD

Online Public Speaking & Debate Programs (Live/Recorded)

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Public Speaking & Debate Clubs

SECONDARYEDAMAGAA

Debate (Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Parliamentary, Public Forum)

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Academic Clubs & Competitions (Debate, Model UN, Olympiads)

SECONDARYEDAMALAK

Leadership, Debate & Model UN Camps

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Summer & Holiday Enrichment Camps (Multi-Activity, Academic)

SECONDARYEDAMAOAN

Speech & Debate Camps, Intensives & Bootcamps

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Public Speaking & Debate Clubs

Keywords

• Speech and debate coaching
• Mock trial training
• Model United Nations
• College admissions counseling
• K-12 communication classes

Headquarters

HQ city

Irvine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Educational Enrichment Classes: Tuition-based courses for K-12 students in speech, debate, mock trial, and Model United Nations offered year-round with both online and in-person formats. Programs include foundational courses, specialized speech training, debate classes, mock trials, MUN simulations, and college enrichment programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ModernBrain is an educational enrichment academy that delivers tuition-based K-12 classes and competition team training in speech, debate (Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, Parliamentary), mock trial, and Model United Nations. It pairs year-round coursework with elite national competition teams and adds college counseling tailored to communications-focused applicants, offered both online and across physical classrooms in California and Texas.

Product overview

ModernBrain is an educational enrichment academy offering a comprehensive portfolio of programs for K-12 students focused on public speaking skills. The core offerings include Speech Classes, Debate Classes (covering Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, and Parliamentary formats), Mock Trial Program, and Model United Nations (MUN). The portfolio is organized as foundational courses for beginners through specialized competitive preparation. Students progress through communication classes, join competition teams (Speech Nationals Team, Mock Trial Nationals Team), and receive college counseling. Additional offerings include private tutoring and the Speak Up Scholarship program. Classes run year-round with summer, fall, and spring sessions across multiple locations (Online, San Marino, Irvine, Dallas, Palos Verdes).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Speech Classes

Quantifiable outcome

• 95%+ of mentees admitted to top 20 colleges and universities
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerModernBrain students participate in NSDA competitions and earn honor society points. Students can achieve Academic All-American status, premier distinction, and national leaderboard recognition through NSDA points accumulation.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Capitol Debate: Capitol Debate is a national debate and speech education provider offering summer camps, online classes, and year-round coaching in similar formats (Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, Public Forum, and individual events). It directly overlaps ModernBrain's product portfolio, age range (middle and high school), and competition-prep focus.
• Victory Briefs: Victory Briefs is a leading debate education company offering summer debate camps, online coaching, and curriculum materials for high school debaters. It competes with ModernBrain for the same college-bound forensics students and operates in the same summer-camp + year-round online format.
• Apex Debate: Apex Debate runs debate camps, online instruction, and competition preparation in multiple debate formats, targeting the same K-12 competitive forensics audience as ModernBrain. Its curriculum-based and instructor-led model closely mirrors ModernBrain's core offering.

Emerging players

• Bamboo Debate: Bamboo Debate is an online-first debate coaching platform that serves a similar high school and middle school audience with virtual instruction. It overlaps with ModernBrain's online delivery model but is at an earlier growth stage.
• PrepScholar: PrepScholar provides test prep and college admissions coaching with a strong online delivery model. While not a speech/debate specialist, it competes with ModernBrain's college counseling service and shares a similar target customer of college-bound K-12 families.

Broad incumbents

• Varsity Tutors: Varsity Tutors is a large-scale online tutoring and enrichment platform that includes some speech and debate coaching within a much broader K-12 and adult tutoring portfolio. It competes at the margins with ModernBrain\'s online and competition-prep offerings but lacks a focused forensics identity.
• Outschool: Outschool is a marketplace for live online enrichment classes for K-12 students, including some public speaking and debate offerings. It competes with ModernBrain for online enrichment dollars from families but is not specialized in competitive forensics.
• The Princeton Review: The Princeton Review is a long-established test prep and college admissions provider with both online and in-person offerings. While not focused on competitive forensics, it competes with ModernBrain for college-prep and tutoring spend from K-12 families.

Others

• IvyWise: IvyWise is a premium college admissions counseling firm that overlaps with ModernBrain's counseling services rather than its debate/speech training. It serves the same affluent, college-bound family demographic and competes for the college-prep wallet share.
• National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA): NSDA is the national governing body for high school speech and debate, and ModernBrain is explicitly a partner that channels students into NSDA tournaments. NSDA is not a direct commercial competitor, but its honor society, ranking, and competition ecosystem shape the playing field in which ModernBrain operates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/modernbrain
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

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 ModernBrain