Tareasplus Secures $1.8M Seed Funding from Academic Partnerships

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Tareasplus, a San Francisco-based startup that has delivered more than 5 million video lessons to students throughout Latin America today announces $1.8M in seed funding from Academic Partnerships. The investment marks a strategic relationship set to meet the demand for learning experiences beyond the classroom in Latin America by leveraging open distribution platforms and improving the quality of content-on-demand in Spanish.

Answering a universal demand for math and science instruction, Tareasplus delivers K-12 and early college students complete lessons in general math, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, physics, chemistry, calculus, differential equations, statistics and more. Tareasplus' library of more than 1100 free videos engage students with concise and comprehensive lessons, which answer the most sought-after questions in calculus (a subject covered across 300 videos), as well as topics such as Multiplying Fractions, Scientific Notation and Parabolic Motion. These videos expand classroom learning and demonstrate an enormous desire for unlimited access to materials by students who benefit from the repetition of a particular concept or lesson. The company pays special attention to the needs of female students, as statistics show their study of math greatly decreases after the age of 18. 

Tareasplus is the brainchild of Hernan Jaramillo and Roberto Cuartas, two engineers who met in college while tutoring kids to pay their way through school.  From their tutoring, they discovered that if they were simply able to "unrestrict" the time it took their students to learn a specific lesson; they could get them to master it.  This, paired with the massive distribution capabilities of YouTube, allowed them to produce and replicate their individual tutoring efforts with the highest possible scale.

Tareasplus' native Spanish-speaking video instructors reduce potential misunderstanding of online translating tools, while reaching an audience all over Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Spain, Argentina and the rest of Latin America.   

"We're thrilled to know we are making an impact in the lives of students who visit us 3 or 4 times a week to supplement their in-class learning," said Hernan Jaramillo, founder and CEO of Tareasplus. "Tareasplus helps students thrive and supports their aspiration of a better education, particularly in Latin America, where demand is ever-growing. We know this is only the beginning – we are now at the inflexion point to truly empower anyone, anywhere to learn anything."

With backing from Academic Partnerships, Tareasplus aims to become the number one destination for students of any age to expand their knowledge in math. Academic Partnerships, which partners with state universities to deliver high quality university degree programs online, supports the notion that in today's school system, missing a class, or not fully grasping a concept right away can cause setbacks that are seemingly impossible for many students to overcome. By providing students of all levels the freedom to enhance their education, customize their learning pace and attend virtual classes anytime, anywhere, this problem is solved. 

"Academic Partnerships is deeply committed to achieving an equality of access to quality education for students around the globe," said Academic Partnerships' founder and chairman, Randy Best. "We support Tareasplus' mission to use technology to help students all over the world deepen their comprehension of math and science."

Tareasplus plans to use this seed funding to expand its platform and further study how unlimited access to lesson videos reinforces a student's knowledge of a range of mathematical subjects.  

About Tareasplus
Tareasplus helps students at all age ranges learn math with quick and compelling video explanations in Spanish. The company is founded by math expert Roberto Cuartas and serial entrepreneur Hernan Jaramillo.  Tareasplus is based in San Francisco and has offices in Medellin, Columbia. For more information, visit www.tareasplus.com.

About Academic Partnerships 
Dallas-based Academic Partnerships partners with universities to deliver students full degree programs online. The company was founded by social entrepreneur, Randy Best, an 18-year veteran of developing innovative learning experiences to improve education. Academic Partnerships helps universities increase public access to high-quality education by providing the technology, student recruitment and faculty support necessary to serve online students. Academic Partnerships is guided by the principle that the opportunities presented through distance learning make higher education more accessible and achievable for students in the U.S. and globally. For more information, please visit http://www.academicpartnerships.com.

SOURCE Academic Partnerships