Tioki

01 / WHAT IT BUILT

What the company did

Tioki was a professional social network exclusively for educators, founded in 2010 by former teacher Mandela Schumacher-Hodge and Brian Martinez and often described as a LinkedIn for teachers. Educators built professional profiles, connected with peers, joined groups and discussions, and discovered classroom resources. It grew out of DemoLesson, the founders' earlier teacher-hiring video platform that won Startup Weekend San Francisco in June 2011; teachers wanted more than job tools, so the site relaunched as Tioki in September 2012.

03 / EVENT HISTORY

Events in the structured record

1. 2011
   DemoLesson wins Startup Weekend

   Brian Martinez takes the DemoLesson idea — video profiles to help schools see teachers in action before interviews — to Startup Weekend San Francisco in June 2011 and wins first prize; Mandela Schumacher-Hodge leaves her UCLA PhD program to work on it full time.

2. 2012
   Beta and profitability

   DemoLesson launches in beta in November 2011, becomes profitable in April 2012, and takes seed funding from Mitch Kapor of Kapor Capital and 500 Startups.

3. 2012
   Relaunch as Tioki

   DemoLesson relaunches as Tioki in September 2012, shifting from teacher hiring to a broader professional network for educators, with profiles, groups, discussions and resource sharing.

4. 2013
   International reach

   Tioki expands into an international platform used by teachers in more than 28 countries, including top-performing schools and education organizations.