Press

The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Read Write Web, The Next Web, BusinessWeek, Chicago Booth, Berkery Noyes, Edumorphology, Fast Campany, PennState, Venture Beat, Invention Venture, Journal Sentinel, ASU

What People are Saying

"Unlike the other tools in this round-up, the BenchPrep mobile application is focused less on textbooks and more on tests. The app is available on Android devices, iPhones, iPads and the Web. BenchPrep works with publishers to create prep tests, flashcards and vocabulary games. It provides progress reports and analytics as you move through course content so you can see how you’re doing."

Back to school: Our top 5 digital education tools

"The Chicago-based startup, backed by Lightbank (whose founders bankrolled Groupon), has been digitizing test prep materials for the last two years. But it's not just making your SAT or MCAT textbooks more portable. It's also adding social features that act as a real-time virtual study groups to get you the help you need when you need it."

Baked In: How BenchPrep Is Turning e-Textbooks Into Virtual Study Groups

"BenchPrep's cross-platform test prep tools are now enhanced by some of the vastest libraries of knowledge available on the Web. OpenPrep accomplishes this by using topic detection and ranking algorithms to analyze the test prep material and draw in relevant material from these free Web resources using their APIs. Additional resources from Wolfram Alpha, Pearson, Associated Press and more are coming soon."

BenchPrep Opens Test-Prep Courses to Wikipedia, YouTube Content

"Digital education company BenchPrep is taking advantage of free informational content with its newest feature OpenPrep...With this new feature, BenchPrep’s back-end algorithms find and assign free informational content to appropriate sections of the study guides."

Wikipedia and YouTube content become teachers in BenchPrep’s latest feature (exclusive)

"We (Groupon investor Lightbank) invested in Watermelon Express, which is a test-preparation company. Studying doesn't have to happen in a silo. It can be a social experience. You can engage with your friends and family to find out the answer to a tough question or have someone explain it to you. You can also study anywhere you happen to be and on any device."

A Business Creator Sees Big Returns From Social Media

(Watermelon Express) aims to bring study aids into the 21st century by including social networking features, as well as intelligent synchronization that allows users to answer a few questions in a mini-test on their iPhone at work, read another section on the bus as they head home, and finish on their computer.

App Watch: Making Test Preparation Mobile, Social

"Whether it be the SAT, ACT, LSAT or GRE, a standardized test is a necessary nuisance to help us elevate to higher stations in life. Chicago-based startup BenchPrep develops iPhone apps and other mobile and online applications designed to make the preparation process more interactive. Users can also tap into BenchPrep courses on their own time and while on the go."

Local App Developers Rise to the Head of the Class: Guest

"... students using BenchPrep have the freedom to download an activity to a mobile device, work on it offline and have their work sync up after connecting said device to the Internet...BenchPrep textbooks go beyond the traditional or even interactive textbook model. They are molded into practice tests, bookmarks, vocabulary games, progress analysis, chat functions within its network and more. The sync function enhances the apps’ ability to help you retain knowledge."

BenchPrep releases iPad app with sync features inspired by Evernote

"The company provides students with detailed performance analysis, projected scores, online forums and customized review pages. Designation identifies the cream of the crop of companies truly employing innovation to further the cause of improving education."

6 Great Tools for LSAT, SAT and GMAT Test Prep

"...BenchPrep's model could offer textbook publishers a different kind of business for a different kind of content. With its interactive capabilities, and especially with its offline access, BenchPrep could deliver educators and students a new kind of course material, rather than renting static content based on the model of the physical textbook."

BenchPrep Test-Prep App Adds Syncing Across Devices

"The companies who presented at this summit were all hand-chosen as the leaders of innovation in education. The ‘Best in Class’ designation identifies the cream of the crop of companies truly employing innovation to further the cause of improving education."

Most innovative test prep & assessment platform

Academic Articles

PENN STATE —

“After some tough discussions, the judges decided to award first place to Watermelon Express. ... Their company is developing cross-platform software to enable students anywhere to train for all of the standardized college-entry tests on electronic devices, both portable and desktop.”

ASU —

“The companies who presented at this summit were all hand-chosen as the leaders of innovation in education. The ‘Best in Class’ designation identifies the cream of the crop of companies truly employing innovation to further the cause of improving education.”

CHICAGO BOOTH —

“(Watermelon Express) is tapping into a real shift in what's happening with technology. The trend toward college prep is huge. That industry has been established. Now they are taking advantage of how that industry is implementing technology, things like iPad, iPhone, Android, etc. It's a perfect example of where markets actually move because of technology trends, and a novel concept like they have can capitalize on the trend. This was the business that has the most potential of everything we saw here today.”

Videos

Co-founder Ashish Rangenkar talks with the host of Chicago Tonight about how his game-changing test prep company got started.