Socratic (Google)
| Company type | Private (before acquisition) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Educational technology |
| Founded | 2013 in New York City, United States |
| Founder | Chris Pedregal, Shreyans Bhansali |
| Fate | Acquired by Google in March 2018 |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
| Products | Educational technology service, mobile application |
| Parent |
Socratic was an educational technology service that utilized artificial intelligence to support students with their homework by offering materials such as instructional videos, explanations, question-and-answer formats, and external links.
Established in 2013 in New York City by Chris Pedregal and Shreyans Bhansali, Socratic introduced its mobile application in 2016. Google acquired the company in March 2018 for an undisclosed amount, with the acquisition publicly revealed in August 2019 alongside a revamped iOS application. After the acquisition, Bhansali assumed the role of engineering manager at Google.
Starting August 2018, Socratic stopped accepting new user-generated contributions but maintained access to existing content. By 2025, its primary features were incorporated into Google Lens.
Technology
The AI engine behind Socratic examined millions of student inquiries to identify and suggest concepts that would facilitate problem-solving. Users could capture images of homework questions via Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which interpreted and categorized the problems. The platform then provided customized learning cards containing definitions, YouTube tutorials, Q&A content, and original contributions from the Socratic online community.
In January 2017, the application enhanced its mathematics tools by adding stepwise equation solving guidance and graphing capabilities.
Subjects
Socratic specialized in four key academic categories:
See also
Further reading
- 2018 mergers and acquisitions
- American companies established in 2013
- American science websites
- Android (operating system) software
- Companies based in New York (state)
- Discontinued Google services
- Educational technology companies of the United States
- Google acquisitions
- Scholarly communication
- Educational apps