Brilliant (website)

For other uses, see Brilliant (disambiguation).
Brilliant
The logo of Brilliant
Type of site
Online education
Available inEnglish
Founder(s)Sue Khim
URLbrilliant.org
CommercialYes
Users4 million (2017)[1]
Launched2012; 12 years ago (2012)
Current statusActive

Brilliant.org is an American for-profit company and associated community that features 70+ guided courses[2] across the site. It operates via a freemium business model.[3]

Brilliant was founded in 2012.[3] At the Launch Festival in March 2013, CEO and co-founder Sue Khim presented the idea of Brilliant, attracting funding from venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.[3][4] In August 2013, TechCrunch reported that Brilliant.org had secured funding from Palihapitiya's Social+Capital Partnership, as well as from 500 Startups, Kapor Capital, Learn Capital, and Hyde Park Angels. The website boasted over 100,000 users at that time. By July 2017, the platform had accumulated more than 4 million registered users, and by April 2019, it had achieved a valuation of $50 million.

Originally, Brilliant hosted a variety of individual puzzles and occasionally monthly challenges. At one point, the individual puzzles included their Problem of the Week, a selection of the 15 best puzzles for the week.[1] Currently, all of their content is housed within the problem-solving-based courses. Only a few lessons in each subject are available outside of subscription to the website.

Reception

Several publications have noted Brilliant for its success in identifying gifted students. Commonly cited examples include Farrell Wu from the Philippines,[4][5] Dylan Toh of Singapore,[5][6] and Phoebe Cai of the United States.[5][6]

Brilliant regularly contributes math and science puzzles to publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and FiveThirtyEight.[7][8][9][1][10] Brilliant has also been cited by The Atlantic as a catalyst of the "math revolution" - a surge in the number of American teens excelling at math.[11]

In 2013, Brilliant co-founder and CEO Sue Khim was listed among the Forbes 30 under 30 for the Education category for her work on Brilliant.[12]

Two employees of Brilliant were among the victims of the 2019 MV Conception fire.[13]

Acquisition

In Dec 2022, Brilliant acquired Hellosaurus, a software and entertainment company that distributes interactive programming for kids from various children's creators like The Wiggles, Kids Diana, etc. CEO Sue Khim said the acquisition will help Brilliant accelerate its mission towards active learning.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Bellos, Alex. "Can you solve it? Pi Day puzzles that will leave you pie-eyed". The Guardian. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  2. ^ "Courses | Brilliant". brilliant.org. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Kurwa, Nishat (July 23, 2013). "Giving Brightest Kids The 'Cram School' Experience, Online". NPR. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Rao, Leena (August 11, 2013). "Backed By Social+Capital, Brilliant.org Is Finding And Challenging The Brightest, Technical Talent In The World". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c Carlson, Nicholas (April 30, 2013). "The 10 Smartest Kids In The World (And The Crazy Math Problems They Can Solve)". Business Insider. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  6. ^ a b Antoniades, Andri (May 7, 2013). "How to Graduate From a Failing School System and Still Be Brilliant. A 26-year-old entrepreneur ensures gifted students worldwide receive the kind of education they need". TakePart. Archived from the original on April 5, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  7. ^ Antonick, Gary (December 21, 2015). "Reason to Celebrate with Puzzles from Brilliant.org and Iwahiro". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2017..
  8. ^ Antonick, Gary (March 14, 2016). "Reasonable-Seeming but WRONG Approximations of π". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  9. ^ Puglise, Nicole. "From The Dress to the 'extinction effect': the internet obsession with brain teasers". The Guardian. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  10. ^ Roeder, Oliver (October 28, 2016). "Rig The Election ... With Math!". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  11. ^ Tyre, Peg (March 2016). "The Math Revolution". The Atlantic. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  12. ^ "30 Under 30: Education". Forbes. Archived from the original on December 31, 2012. Retrieved September 28, 2014.
  13. ^ "Newly hired scientist for California among boat fire victims". September 5, 2019.
  14. ^ "Brilliant Acquires Leading Interactive Video Platform Hellosaurus". PRWeb. Retrieved November 26, 2023.