Varsity Tutors Expands, Opens New Seattle Office to Build Product Team Following $50 Million Venture Capital Raise
Seattle, WA (PRWEB) April 20, 2016 -- Varsity Tutors, the St. Louis-based technology company providing access to over 20,000 experts on its live learning platform, today announces the opening of its new Seattle, Washington office. The new location will allow Varsity Tutors to tap into the tech-heavy talent pool in the Seattle area and further build out the company’s product development and design teams, as it continues to transform how people access expertise. Additionally, the company announces the hire of Ian Clarkson, who will lead the Seattle office and serve as president and chief operating officer.
Located in the popular Pier 56 in downtown Seattle, the new space will act as a hub for product, design and software development activities by bringing on a head of design, chief product officer, additional software developers, program and product managers and UX/CX designers. The company intends to hire 30 employees in the near term and up to 50 employees over the next two years in the Seattle office.
“The decision to open our second location in Seattle was a no-brainer; the area is a hub for thriving tech companies and is saturated with incredible talent across the key areas from which we’re looking to recruit,” said Chuck Cohn, founder and CEO of Varsity Tutors. “We believe expanding to Seattle and bringing on new team members with deep e-commerce experience, like Ian Clarkson, helps us to scale, grow and build even more amazing products and experiences to give students instant access to expertise—anywhere, anytime.”
In his new role at the Seattle office, Clarkson will build and oversee a team of talented individuals that will lead, define and execute Varsity Tutors’ vision of transforming how people worldwide access expertise. Prior to joining Varsity Tutors, Clarkson served as the chief operating officer of Sears Home Services where he oversaw operations in product, technology, sales and field operations, among other roles, with 14,000 people reporting through him. Prior to his role at Sears, Clarkson spent 15 years at Amazon, where he worked in a variety of functions including technology, operations, service and retail. Clarkson ran the Seller Services business for Europe, overseeing a variety of products and teams in nine countries. He has a proven track record in building consumer digital products, including launching AmazonFresh as employee No. 1.
“As a true innovator, Varsity Tutors has been very successful developing technologies that facilitate in-person tutoring sessions and creating a convenient approach to private learning,” said Clarkson, president and COO of Varsity Tutors. “The company is at an exciting point where it is rapidly moving towards the next phase of growth as a destination for those seeking to learn who can instantly access the expertise of instructors across devices—no matter what their need is—within seconds. I’m thrilled to be a part of what’s next for the platform.”
About Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors is a live learning platform that connects students and professionals with personalized instruction to achieve any goal. To date, users have accessed more than 1 million hours of live instruction on the platform. Additionally, through the company’s free online learning tools, mobile applications and books, Varsity Tutors has created an ecosystem of more than 100,000 free practice questions, answers and explanation sets across more than 150 subjects and standardized tests. Varsity Tutors was founded in 2007 at Washington University in St. Louis. For more information visit http://www.varsitytutors.com.
Lauren Ianuzi, Moxie Communications Group, (315) 420-0277, [email protected]
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