20+ schools are using Acclaim’s video annotation platform

Nearly two dozen K-12 schools and colleges are using a video annotation platform from Old City-based edtech startup Acclaim, said founder Aksel Gungor.

The platform reminds us of VH1‘s old-school Pop Up Video, but for education. Acclaim lets students and teachers upload video content and post time-specific comments on the video.

One law professor at Loyola University Chicago and her colleagues use Acclaim to comment on students’ mock trial performances, according to an Acclaim blog post. In the past, professors had to sit down with each student and walk through the videos of their performances, said Loyola University Chicago’s Zelda Harris.

In the last three months, more than 2,000 videos have been uploaded to the platform and nearly 11,000 comments have been posted on those videos, according to the company. The average session on Acclaim is a little over 10 minutes. Acclaim, which raised an undisclosed amount of family, friends and angel money, launched at schools in the fall of 2013.

Schools generally pay Acclaim a fee per semester. That can range from $1,000 per semester to $25,000, depending on how many students are using the platform and how many videos will be uploaded. Some of the roughly 20 schools that are using Acclaim are paying, while some are running a free pilot, Gungor wrote in an email.

All the big education companies, like Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Blackboard, are competitors, Gungor said, but the main differentiator is Acclaim’s tight focus on using video content for discussion.

“We don’t want to get into publishing nor admin related tech (like grading/scheduling etc.),” Gungor wrote. “Moreover, because we’re so focused, we can also concentrate on simplicity and keep our platform super clean.”

Gungor, 26, of South Philly, used to run carpooling web app Ridaroo. He shut it down last year because other companies, like Uber and Lyft, got the model right, and Ridaroo did not, he said.

The Drexel graduate now runs a team of four full-timers, including himself. The company has outgrown its Center City office and is moving to a new spot at 2nd and Lombard Streets.

For more on how Acclaim works, watch the startup’s promotional video, below.