UC Berkeley’s SkyDeck accelerator has secured an exit as schoolwork assessment technology developer Gradescope was acquired by Turnitin.
Gradescope, a US-based schoolwork assessment software developer and graduate of University of California (UC) Berkeley’s SkyDeck accelerator, has been acquired by plagiarism detection service Turnitin for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2014, Gradescope offers an artificial intelligence-powered platform which helps teachers and other educational instructors grade the work of their students.
The technology accepts paper, digital and coding-based assignments, automatically digitising written answers to award marks for the correct answer.
Gradescope will continue to offer its services under the Turnitin umbrella, gaining access to the latter’s resources to help drive product development and build distribution channels. To date, the software has been used by more than 600 schools.
The company is listed in SkyDeck’s portfolio, though a date for its participation could not be ascertained.
Gradescope received $2.6m in a 2016 round co-led by UC Berkeley-focused venture capital fund House Fund and Bloomberg Beta, the corporate venturing arm of media group Bloomberg, as well Freestyle Capital and Reach Capital. The round also included K9 Ventures.
The business subsequently raised $2.8m in a June 2018 round led by Reach Capital with commitments from Bloomberg Beta, Freestyle, K9, GSV Accelerate and Ironfire Ventures.