# BenchPrep

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American company

BenchPrep Formerly Watermelon Express Industry Education Founder Ashish Rangnekar[1][2] Ujjwal Gupta[3][4] Headquarters United States

**BenchPrep** is an American company that provides cloud-based study guides for [standardized tests](/source/Standardized_test), [professional certifications](/source/Professional_certification), and K-12 classroom learning. It has partnered with educational publishers such as McGraw Hill, [John Wiley & Sons](/source/John_Wiley_%26_Sons), and [the Princeton Review](/source/The_Princeton_Review) to create interactive, digitized courses.[5][6]

## History

BenchPrep, formerly known as Watermelon Express, was founded in 2009 by Ashish Rangnekar and Ujjwal Gupta,[7] after Ashish Rangnekar won the New Venture Challenge at the [University of Chicago](/source/University_of_Chicago).[8][9] Shortly thereafter, BenchPrep received $2.2 million in seed funding from [Lightbank](/source/Lightbank), the executives behind [Groupon](/source/Groupon).[10] In July 2012, the company announced a $6 million round of funding from [New Enterprise Associates](/source/New_Enterprise_Associates) and [Revolution LLC](/source/Revolution_LLC).[11][12]

In 2019, the company announced a $20 million round of funding from Jump Capital and Owl Ventures.[13][14]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["How BenchPrep went from side hustle to fast-growing e-learning company"](https://www.builtinchicago.org/2018/02/16/benchprep-chicago-growth-story). *Built In Chicago*. Retrieved 2020-06-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["How Angry Birds & Farmville can help students score better"](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/how-angry-birds-farmville-can-help-students-score-better/articleshow/13424181.cms). *The Economic Times*. 2012-05-28. Retrieved 2020-06-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["How BenchPrep went from side hustle to fast-growing e-learning company"](https://www.builtinchicago.org/2018/02/16/benchprep-chicago-growth-story). *Built In Chicago*. Retrieved 2020-06-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["How Angry Birds & Farmville can help students score better"](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/how-angry-birds-farmville-can-help-students-score-better/articleshow/13424181.cms). *The Economic Times*. 2012-05-28. Retrieved 2020-06-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Josh Constine (2010-01-05). ["BenchPrep is Code Academy for any Subject"](https://techcrunch.com/2012/01/05/benchprep/). Techcrunch.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Rip Empson (2012-05-14). ["BenchPrep Teams up with The Princeton Review to Gamify Test Prep"](https://techcrunch.com/2012/05/14/benchprep-teams-up-with-the-princeton-review-to-gamify-test-prep/). Techcrunch.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Steve Hendershot (2012-07-03). ["BenchPrep Snares 6 Million Investment"](http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20120703/BLOGS06/120709957/benchprep-snares-6-million-investment). Chicago Business.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Brad Spirrison (2011-09-23). ["Local App Developers Rise to the Head of the Class"](http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/inc-well/Local-App-Developers-Rise-to-the-Head-of-the-Class-Guest-128270998.html). NBC Chicago.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Traditional NVC Winners"](http://research.chicagobooth.edu/nvc/traditional-nvc-winners.aspx#winners!year2010). 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Steve Hendershot (2012-11-12). ["BenchPrep Leaving Textbooks in the Dust"](http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20121110/ISSUE02/121109704/benchprep-leaving-textbooks-in-the-dust). Chicago Business.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["The Daily Start-Up NEA Revolution Back BenchPrep for Online Education"](https://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2012/07/03/the-daily-start-up-nea-revolution-back-benchprep-for-online-education/). Online.wsj.com. 2012-07-03.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Lora Kolodny (2012-07-03). ["BenchPrep Passes Series B Test, Raises $6M"](http://pevc.dowjones.com/Article?an=DJFVW00020120703e873awagy&cid=32135016&ctype=ts&pid=32&ReturnUrl=http%3a%2f%2fpevc.dowjones.com%3a80%2fArticle%3fan%3dDJFVW00020120703e873awagy%26cid%3d32135016%26ctype%3dts%26pid%3d32). Dow Jones & Company.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** BenchPrep (2019-01-15). ["BenchPrep Closes $20 Million Series C Round of Funding Co-Led by Jump Capital and Owl Ventures"](http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/01/15/1691582/0/en/BenchPrep-Closes-20-Million-Series-C-Round-of-Funding-Co-Led-by-Jump-Capital-and-Owl-Ventures.html). *GlobeNewswire News Room*. Retrieved 2019-03-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["BenchPrep raises $20M Series C to double headcount, boost product development"](https://www.builtinchicago.org/2019/01/15/benchprep-20-million-funding-round). *Built In Chicago*. Retrieved 2019-03-26.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [BenchPrep](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BenchPrep) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BenchPrep?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.