Startup profile · funding coverage
Knowmia funding, valuation and investors
Curated K-12 educational video discovery for teachers—acquired by TechSmith in 2014.
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Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
YC / Seed
Not fully disclosed · 2012
Latest known valuation
Not publicly disclosed
Total disclosed equity funding
Not publicly disclosed
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
acquired
acquired · San Francisco, California
Investors in latest funding
Other: Andreessen Horowitz
Latest tracked event: Acquired by TechSmith (November 2014). It is shown separately because it is not counted as disclosed equity funding.
Overview
Knowmia, founded in 2012 by Ariel Braunstein and Scott Kabat in San Francisco, built a searchable library of curated K-12 educational videos—matching teachers and students with lesson content across subjects. The Y Combinator Summer 2012 company described itself as combining Pandora-style recommendation with Yelp-style reviews for classroom video. Andreessen Horowitz tracked the company via its YC-era portfolio exposure. In November 2014, TechSmith Corporation, maker of Camtasia and Snagit screen-recording software, acquired Knowmia as an add-on to expand video-based learning tools. TechSmith later sunset standalone Knowmia services around 2022 while retaining related capture products.
Why Knowmia is interesting
YC S12's 'Pandora for classroom videos' gave teachers Yelp-style lesson discovery before LMS giants bundled video—TechSmith bought it to feed Camtasia/Screencast ecosystems.
Product & use cases
Knowmia indexed teacher-created and curated lesson videos with search, playlists, and assignment workflows—helping educators find quality clips without searching YouTube blindly.
- Teachers discovering supplemental video lessons by topic
- Students reviewing concepts via assigned curated clips
- Districts building video libraries with analytics dashboards
Key facts
- YC Summer 2012 batch (Y Combinator)
- Acquired Nov 11, 2014 by TechSmith (Mergr)
- Listed on a16z investment list as Knowmia.com
- TechSmith later sunset Knowmia service circa 2022
Funding history (newest first)
Acquired by TechSmith
2014-11 Not disclosedSource: Read source · mergr.com
Investors in our directory
Funds linked from Knowmia's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Competitive landscape
Edge: Early focus on K-12 curation and teacher reviews—not generic video hosting—before Google Classroom and LMS suites absorbed video workflows.
Video discovery for K-12 was a feature, not a company, once LMS platforms matured. TechSmith acquisition made sense for cross-sell to existing screen-capture customers but standalone Knowmia could not outpace free YouTube plus integrated district tools.
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YouTube Education incumbent
Free massive catalog; Knowmia offered curation and classroom assignment UX.
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Khan Academy adjacent
Single-brand curriculum vs multi-teacher marketplace.
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Edpuzzle direct
Interactive video assignments for classrooms; later-era competitor.
Notable stories
- Founders Ariel Braunstein and Scott Kabat previously worked in consumer media before targeting teachers (YC profile).
- TechSmith deal classified as add-on acquisition into screen-capture and video learning stack (Mergr).
- Knowmia pitched 'Pandora meets Yelp' for K-12 video—early edtech SEO before integrated LMS video became default.
Industries
Market / IPO context
Editorial / static context — not a live quote.
Related funding articles
Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover Knowmia's financing or category context.
FAQs about Knowmia
Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.
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