Yup Technologies
| Company type | Privately held |
|---|---|
| Industry | Online tutoring |
| Founded | San Francisco (2014) |
| Founder |
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| Headquarters | San Francisco, United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people |
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| Website | www |
Yup (previously known as MathCrunch) was an educational technology firm headquartered in San Francisco, specializing in real-time math tutoring through a mobile app. The platform linked students directly with tutors for immediate assistance. Established in 2014 by Egyptian billionaire Naguib S. Sawiris, who also held the CEO position, Yup attracted coverage from major media such as Forbes, Fox, VentureBeat, and TechCrunch before ceasing operations around late 2024 or early 2025.
History
Founded in 2014 in San Francisco by entrepreneur and angel investor Naguib S. Sawiris,[1][2] Yup emerged from Sawiris’s insight into the widespread habit of students texting peers for homework support, aiming to create a specialized tutoring platform.[2] In May 2015, the company raised $3.5 million in seed capital from venture firms including Floodgate Fund, Formation 8, and Index Ventures to grow its user base.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name Further backing was provided by Stanford University's StartX Fund, facilitating enhancements to the platform and expansion of its tutor network.[3]
In April 2016, MathCrunch transitioned to the Yup brand, expanding its offerings beyond math to include chemistry and physics tutoring, alongside securing an additional $4 million investment to boost growth.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name By February 2025, Yup discontinued its app and website services, making them inaccessible.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
Services
Yup offered a mobile application that connected students instantly with professional tutors for on-demand homework assistance. Operating through a chat-style interface, students could send a photo of their question or type it out, select the relevant subject, and be paired with available tutors who provided step-by-step guidance via text and images.
Subjects offered
Tutors on Yup covered a comprehensive range of math topics from foundational concepts through AP Calculus AB, aligned with Common Core standards, including:
- Fundamental operations; negative numbers; factors; divisibility; decimals; fractions; ratios; proportions; exponents; order of operations; properties of operations and equality; number classifications; scientific notation; and other pre-algebra subjects.
- Basics of coordinate planes; variables and linear equations; graphing lines; function characteristics; inequalities; absolute values; systems of equations; monomials and binomials; logarithmic and radical expressions; exponential functions; quadratic and polynomial expressions of higher degree; rational expressions; conic sections; transformations of functions; complex coordinate systems; sequences and series; vectors and matrices.
- Attributes of shapes (perimeter, area); similarity and scaling principles; congruence criteria; logical reasoning and proofs; lines and angles properties; triangles; quadrilaterals; polygons; circles; three-dimensional solids and polyhedra.
Pre-Calculus & Trigonometry
- Trigonometric functions and their graphs; solving equations and verifying identities; inverse trigonometric functions; laws of sines and cosines.
Basic Statistics and Probability
- Measures of central tendency and variability; interpreting various plots and graphs; permutations and combinations; probability distributions; linear regression and correlation analysis; hypothesis testing procedures; sampling methods.
- Concepts of limits and continuity; differentiation techniques; finding extrema points; area estimation methods (trapezoidal rule, Simpson's rule); integration and antiderivatives; solids of revolution calculations; fundamental theorem of calculus applications; mean value theorem understanding; introductory differential equations including Euler’s method.
Previous subject areas offered
Yup formerly provided tutoring services in Physics up to the levels of AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2, as well as Chemistry up to the AP Chemistry level. However, by the summer of 2018, the company ceased offering science subjects to concentrate solely on mathematics tutoring. Additionally, Yup maintained a blog that delivered industry updates and relevant information for families.
Information on tutors and application
The team of tutors at Yup consisted of college students, high school educators, and university professors, ensuring around-the-clock availability. The app was available for free download and offered various subscription plans differing in cost and length. The iOS version of the app achieved the rank of the second most downloaded educational application in the United States on two occasions and was highlighted on the Apple Store between April 7 and April 21, 2016. Yup catered to learners ranging from elementary school through college levels. By May 2016, the platform had registered over 400,000 students who completed upwards of 200,000 tutoring sessions.