Tutoring is an important part of college life, may it be on the receiving end as a student who needs some extra help, or at the providing end to earn some extra income. Technology has added new possibilities to the vertical as students can now connect via the Internet without the need of fixing times and places to meet.
Vancouver-based HelpHub connects learners and tutors for quick, on-demand or recurring weekly tutoring sessions on the web or on mobile devices.
Introduce your startup and give a short description of what you are doing.
HelpHub is a real-time open marketplace for tutoring. We connect students with tutors on-demand, anytime, anywhere, on the web and iOS.
Who are the founders, how did you meet, what are your different roles in the startup.
Miguel Kudry is the 22-year-old founder of the Vancouver-based startup HelpHub. He built the virtual tutoring platform after finding the need for a more efficient experience when he needed help in his own studies while attending college.
How was the idea for your startup born?
While in college, Miguel was searching for an alternative to the traditional, weekly tutoring sessions with the ability of asking only one question and move on. Fortunately he did not find one and HelpHub was born.
What is the main problem in education that you aim to solve.
Every student needs help. HelpHub aims to be the place where students go to get help when they truly needed – whether they are working on a single problem or question, or they need recurring tutoring sessions, HelpHub makes it easier for any student to get help from real people, in real time.
Who are your main competitors? What sets you apart from them?
Competitors include InstaEdu, Tutor.com, Wyzant, and others. Among other elements and areas of our product, HelpHub's open market approach –allowing tutors to choose how much they make– and the ability for students to pay tutors as they go, sets us apart from other options in the market.
In which markets / regions are you active. What markets / regions are next.
HelpHub has a worldwide presence, in over 60 countries and at over 700 schools. HelpHub's student presence is growing rapidly in Canada and the United States, and tutors around the world are increasingly becoming aware of our platform and joining it to earn a supplementary income, online. Latin America and Asia represent big opportunities for HelpHub to grow its student presence.
Who is your target audience.
Students aged 15-23 and their parents represent our main target markets. Tutor segments include undergraduates, graduates, professional tutors, and working professionals that wish to earn a supplementary income helping others through our platform.
How do you engage with your target audience. How do you convert them into users of your product.
By providing users with an open marketplace and platform to connect, we allow any student to start conversations with any tutor, and a tutor to get started on the site in minutes. That way we eliminate any barriers or roadblocks for people to use the platform and test it before they either convert into a paying customer or a tutor.
What is your business model. How much does your product / service cost.
HelpHub allows tutors to choose their own rates, and for students (and tutors) to negotiate and agree on prices. We take a 15% commission fee from the tutor's earnings on each transaction. There are no monthly fee, subscription fees, or minimums to use the HelpHub platform, for either students or tutors.
If you raised funding, how much did you raise. Who are your investors. If not, are you planning to raise funding.
We raised $250,000 from Sora Capital, in March, 2014.
Are there milestones you are especially proud of and would like to share.
- We now have a presence at over 700 schools, worldwide.
- We've launched our iOS app – allowing any student to get help from tutors on-demand, right on their iPhone.
What are the next steps in growing your startup.
Continuing to cultivate and grow our community of students and tutors through upcoming product features, improving communication for students and tutors, both globally and locally.
How can people get in touch with you.
For general inquiries, please contact us at helphub.me/contact
You can find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the handle HelpHubHQ
Toll-free number: 1-855-599-9905