Sometimes you see a company raise $38M and think, “Cool, another AI play.” But Honor Education isn’t just riding the wave, they’re engineering the riptide.
Founded in 2021 by Joel Podolny, the man who built Apple University from the ground up and ran Yale SOM before that, Honor is what happens when someone who actually understands learning says: “Yeah… online education sucks. Let’s fix that.” And not with another passive content dump or a glorified video player wearing a cap and gown. We’re talking a full-stack transformation of how people engage with knowledge, each other, and the cultures they’re part of.
So, about that $38M Series A, led by Alpha Edison and joined by Wasserstein & Co, Audeo Ventures, Interlock Partners, New Wave Capital, and others, this isn’t just fuel for growth. It’s a bet that AI doesn’t have to replace teachers to change education. It just has to make learning human again.
Let’s get into it. Honor’s platform blends AI-powered course creation, social annotation, real-time feedback loops, and mobile-first UX to get users actually showing up, and finishing. Their 85% course completion rate makes the industry average of 15% look like a participation trophy. And it’s not a fluke. Netflix, Moderna, Pinterest, Synopsys, Wharton, Northeastern, and Miami Herbert are all rolling with them. These aren’t sandbox pilots. These are institutions betting on outcomes.
CEO Joel Podolny and CTO Ryan Thomas, 28 years in the game and original engineer at DocuSign, aren’t selling some Ivy League mirage wrapped in SaaS. They’re bringing the seminar hall to your phone, with personalized pathways, embedded convos, and real-time insight into how people learn, not just what they click.
It’s easy to forget that in digital education, comprehension, belonging, and engagement are the holy trinity. Honor’s platform boosts all three. 90% of learners say they understand more. 92% feel more engaged. 76% feel more connected. That’s not an algorithm, that’s architecture.
And if you’re wondering how a startup cracked that code? Look at the team. Shadee Barkan driving partnerships like a vet from 2U and Trilogy. Katie Barcelona bringing brand brilliance from Pinterest and Pentagram. Steve LaBella, Snap’s original brand guy, writing the strategy playbook. Jihan Quail and Kelly Crabb handling enterprise growth like they’ve done it twice already. And then there’s Dr. Jeremy Dean and Dr. Warren Longmire, the kind of minds that make behavioral science feel like a secret weapon.
