Applications open for Imagine K12 Winter 2013

If you're at all interested in starting an ed tech startup, you should apply.

I'm in the current cohort, and it's a really great program. You get access to people who really know education as well as people who are really influential in the space.

I went through the first cohort as co-founder of ClassDojo. We went in with basically nothing, got our asses kicked on a weekly basis and had a lot of fun along the way.

The three principals had the depth of consumer internet and business experience to help us build a really scalable distribution model, and to focus our product on solving a real user pain point, which helped us to reach over 4mm teachers and students in under a year. 3 months out of program we had raised $1.6mm from some of the best investors around, and now a year later things are going great.

We would not have achieved any of this without ImagineK12. I strongly recommend you apply!

I co-founded LearnSprout (ImagineK12, W12) with jobowoo. This was my first time doing a startup, going through the program at ImagineK12 was an incredible learning experience. What makes IK12 stand apart from other incubators is its understanding of the education market and grounding you to the realities of product distribution in edtech. Starting an edtech company is unlike any consumer idea you may have, IK12 helps you check your assumptions at the door.

You can expect: 1) First Day – get your ass kicked and assumptions checked on your product and vision 2) Educator Day – make your pitch to enthusiastic early adopter edtech enthusiasts and investors from the community 3) Weekly lunch/dinner speakers 4) Demo Day – self explanatory 5) accessible partners (Tim, Geoff, Alan) in person or via Skype whenever you need help

With edtech, it's incredibly rewarding to know that our late night coding sessions and long work weeks at LearnSprout translate into something of tangible social value: principals, teachers and students getting their software headaches out of the way and focusing on teaching + learning. ImagineK12 will help you focus on finding a real need within education that you ought to be solving with your team and talents.

We believe in the vision that software will eat the world, and it's only a matter of time that all classrooms will be immersed in new learning methods driven by and aided by technology. This sweeping change is begging for hacker-entrepreneurs to step up and build that vision. If that's you, ImagineK12 is the place to get started.

I'm in the current cohort building Edcanvas (http://www.edcanvas.com) and the program has been super helpful in getting us to where we are today. Our team was in a special position where we had to scrap our initial company before coming in but the partners were super helpful/supportive along the way.

If you want to solve hard problems that really matter, edtech is the place to be.

I am working on an edtech startup for PK-6. I have a few questions however. 1) What is the selectivity of ImagineK12? How many apply and how many get selected typically? 2) When is a good time to apply? I started off about 2 months back and have conducted a fair bit of customer development and some product development. 3) I am the only founder and I don't code. For now, am getting it done through freelancing friends, looking for a more permanent technical cofounder. Is that viewed negatively?

Thanks, AK

my co founders and I went to YCombinator and ImagineK12 at the same time (W2012). While the schedule was stressful, tuesday and thursday dinners and office hours, we felt it was the best decision we made by doing both Incubators at the same time. Getting access to advice from Tim, Geoff and Alan improved our product dramatically, we also met our first advisors and investors at the ImagineK12 dinner and that had a dramatic effect on the growth of our apps. You can Expect Demo Day: The ImagineK12 demo is well attended and put in touch with some of the most useful investors we raised money from. Advice: The partners are very helpful and can help shape some of the most important decisions that you will make as a startup Cohort: ImagineK12 is a small group of founders that will go out the way to help each other out, we often felt that our batches at ImagineK12 would have been how YC would have been in the early days of YC with 10-15 startups at most.

Apply now, we at taptolearn highly recommend ImagineK12.

I was part of the 2nd cohort to go through Imagine K12. It was an amazing experience. They definitely helped us really define our company during its formative stages and are still a great resource for us. We wouldn't be where we are today without their support. If you're at all interested in edtech, I highly suggest you apply. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.