A group of social learning networks that allow students to learn together, exchange insights and make friends. Brainly provides students, parents, and teachers with a platform to help others with their homework.
The site aims to enhance students’ English, Maths, Science, and Social Studies skills. The platform uses a peer-to-peer system where students can ask and answer questions from other students. Rankings are given to those who provide high-quality answers, and they are then asked for an explanation and its source. The questions are categorized by subject, country, and school level. Each user receives a set number of points upon registration, which is used to ask questions. Users can earn points by answering questions posted by others. There is also a ranking of users who answered the most questions or scored the most points. Brainly is moderated by volunteers and staff, using machine learning algorithms to filter its knowledge base. Moderators are trained users whose responses are of high-quality content. They have permission to respond to users who violate the rules, including those who plagiarize, post spam, or post evaluation questions.
The company’s history
It all started in September 2009 with the Zadane.pl portal, where students shared valuable knowledge for doing homework. The idea quickly caught on. The number of users rapidly grew from 130,000 at the end of 2009 to 1.6 million in 2013 and 5 million in 2016. In 2011, the company launched its first international service, Znanija, addressed to Russian speakers, and in 2014 it moved its headquarters from Krakow in Poland to New York in the USA, which was supposed to facilitate the international expansion of the portal. A milestone in its development was the acquisition in 2016 of the American Open Study, and two years later, the Bask website, used to learn by watching short video materials. In the meantime, in 2017, it changed its name to Brainly. The company’s rapid development would not have been possible without the support of investors, who guaranteed the last large round of financing in December 2020. The company received $80 million then and $150 million in total. The company employs over 400 employees. In 2022, its revenues reached $10.9M, and the fortune of its founder, Michał Borkowski, is estimated at $350M, making him the 14th richest Pole.