Lightbank announced today that it has led a $1 million funding round for an Iowa startup that offers an online meeting place for college students to collaborate.
clusterFlunk, launched in January 2013, is a online hub for students to meet after class to share study tips and socialize. Founded by University of Iowa students AJ Nelson and Joe Dallago, clusterFlunk's platform offers instant messaging, file uploading, and note sharing to better connect classmates outside of the lecture hall.
"As students, we were frustrated by the lack of access to classmates in our large lecture courses, and we wanted to create a way for more collaboration outside of the classroom,” Nelson said in a news release. "We see our platform as ‘Blackboard meets Facebook meets Craigslist,’ and the connections our users make through the platform are invaluable."
The platform also allows students to sell textbooks and calculators, post apartment subleases, and sell parking spaces or furniture.
Two-thirds of the students at Iowa University use clusterFlunk, and earlier this year the company launched in 12 other universities. More than 65 percent of clusterFlunk’s users said their grades enhanced as a result of the platform, the release said.
“Students have a lack of resources to connect in an easy way online, and current options such as Facebook don’t offer the tools necessary to share files and truly engage with classmates,” Lightbank Partner Paul Lee said in the release. “clusterFlunk is changing the way students study, interact and plan on campus. The metrics from their initial launch are impressive, and we’re excited to see the platform expand to other campuses across the U.S.”
Lightbank was joined in the funding round by Built By Iowa. clusterFlunk is Lightbank's first investment in an Iowa startup as the company continues to invest around the Midwest. Earlier this year Lightbank invested in Madison-based gaming startup PerBlue.
clusterFlunk will open a branch in Chicago and will work out of Lightbank's offices.
