Clever (company)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Educational technology |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Founder | Tyler Bosmeny, Dan Carroll, Rafael Garcia |
| Headquarters | San Francisco , United States |
Key people | Tyler Bosmeny (CEO, founding), Rafael Garcia (CTO), Dan Carroll (Chief Product Officer), Trish Sparks (CEO since 2022) |
| Products | Educational technology platform for school districts |
| Parent | Kahoot! (since 2021) |
Clever is a U.S.-based company specializing in educational technology, founded in 2012 by Tyler Bosmeny, Dan Carroll, and Rafael Garcia. In 2021, it became part of Kahoot! through acquisition.
History
In 2012, three alumni from Harvard University—Tyler Bosmeny, Dan Carroll, and Rafael Garcia—launched Clever in San Francisco as a unified platform designed to help school districts manage student data and educational services efficiently. Carroll, who previously taught with Teach For America, aimed to simplify the integration of technology within classrooms. The leadership team consisted of Bosmeny as CEO, Garcia as CTO, and Carroll as chief product officer.
By the year 2016, Clever had secured close to $60 million in investment capital. The following year, approximately half of the public schools across the United States were utilizing the platform, which held a valuation exceeding $250 million. In 2017, it earned the distinction of being ranked fourth among The Wall Street Journal’s list of Tech Companies to Watch.
As reported in 2021, Clever maintained a cash flow neutral operation while serving about 65% of K-12 school districts nationwide, with an active user base nearing 20 million each month. That May, the Oslo-headquartered edtech company Kahoot! acquired Clever, enabling it to preserve its operational independence while incorporating Kahoot!'s applications into its system and broadening its global reach.
In 2022, Trish Sparks—formerly a middle school educator in Wake County—assumed the role of CEO. Prior to this appointment, she had been serving as VP of customer success at Clever’s San Francisco office before moving to the firm’s newly established Durham location amid the COVID-19 pandemic.