A new startup buying an app from a high school kid makes for a pretty good headline.  Here’s the deal:

The Buyer:  Fiveable is an online learning platform primarily for high school students that helps them study for AP exams.  It is a relatively new company itself, just founded in 2018 but it boasts that it has supported more than 4M high school students since being launched.

Its core feature is 5-hour cram sessions that are livestreamed by students to help other students prepare for AP exams in 38 different subjects.  It also has study guides on its site as well as a Discord with thousands of students.

The startup has reportedly raised more than $3.5 million from investors including Matchstick Ventures, Cream City Venture Capital, Spero Ventures and, most recently, Tennis legend Serena Williams. 

The Seller:  Calix Huang is a 16-year-old high school student in the San Francisco Bay Area that created software app Hours in October 2020 to help students connect for group study sessions  through virtual study rooms, a must for kids stuck at home during the pandemic.  The app has single and multiplayer modes so kids can study in Hours alone or with other students, similar to single and multiplayer video games.  Since launch, it has been used by more than 17,000 students across 120 countries.
 
Apparently, Calix is not a newbie despite his young age.  According to Techcrunch, he has “previous tech acquisitions and startups under his belt.”  Looking at the press release announcing the deal, this includes being the founder of Launch Tech LLC, which incubates student-focused ventures like Ortexo, NPO Core, and w3Hacks, all of which were acquired by NovaCrypt.
 
Huang is joining the Fiveable team as a Lead Product Manager as part of the acquisition.  Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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