Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 4, 2026

BenchPrep

BenchPrep is an American company that provides cloud-based study guides for standardized tests, professional certifications, and K-12 classroom learning. It has partnered with educational publishers such as McGraw Hill, John Wiley & Sons, and the Princeton Review to create interactive, digitized courses.

Last revised
Jun 4, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
323 w
Citations
14
Source
Wikipedia ↗
BenchPrep
FormerlyWatermelon Express
IndustryEducation
Founded2009 (2009)
Founder
  • Ashish Rangnekar12
  • Ujjwal Gupta34
Headquarters
Chicago, Illinois
Websitebenchprep.com

BenchPrep is an American company that provides cloud-based study guides for standardized tests, professional certifications, and K-12 classroom learning. It has partnered with educational publishers such as McGraw Hill, John Wiley & Sons, and the Princeton Review to create interactive, digitized courses.56

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.89 Shortly thereafter, BenchPrep received $2.2 million in seed funding from Lightbank, the executives behind Groupon.10 In July 2012, the company announced a $6 million round of funding from New Enterprise Associates and Revolution LLC.1112

In 2019, the company announced a $20 million round of funding from Jump Capital and Owl Ventures.1314

    References

    References

    1. "How BenchPrep went from side hustle to fast-growing e-learning company". Built In Chicago. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
    2. "How Angry Birds & Farmville can help students score better". The Economic Times. 2012-05-28. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
    3. "How BenchPrep went from side hustle to fast-growing e-learning company". Built In Chicago. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
    4. "How Angry Birds & Farmville can help students score better". The Economic Times. 2012-05-28. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
    5. Josh Constine (2010-01-05). "BenchPrep is Code Academy for any Subject". Techcrunch.
    6. Rip Empson (2012-05-14). "BenchPrep Teams up with The Princeton Review to Gamify Test Prep". Techcrunch.
    7. Steve Hendershot (2012-07-03). "BenchPrep Snares 6 Million Investment". Chicago Business.
    8. Brad Spirrison (2011-09-23). "Local App Developers Rise to the Head of the Class". NBC Chicago.
    9. "Traditional NVC Winners". 2010.
    10. Steve Hendershot (2012-11-12). "BenchPrep Leaving Textbooks in the Dust". Chicago Business.
    11. "The Daily Start-Up NEA Revolution Back BenchPrep for Online Education". Online.wsj.com. 2012-07-03.
    12. Lora Kolodny (2012-07-03). "BenchPrep Passes Series B Test, Raises $6M". Dow Jones & Company.
    13. BenchPrep (2019-01-15). "BenchPrep Closes $20 Million Series C Round of Funding Co-Led by Jump Capital and Owl Ventures". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
    14. "BenchPrep raises $20M Series C to double headcount, boost product development". Built In Chicago. Retrieved 2019-03-26.