# Paper

> Paper is a Montreal-based education technology company that contracts with K-12 public school districts to give students unlimited, 24/7 access to live online tutoring, writing feedback, and college-and-career planning tools at no cost to families. Founded in 2014 as GradeSlam, it scaled to serve millions of students across hundreds of districts, reached unicorn status with a 2022 Series D, then weathered a sharp contraction in 2024 as pandemic-era school funding dried up.

- **Founded:** 2014
- **Headquarters:** Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- **Founders:** Philip Cutler (Co-founder, former CEO), Roberto Cipriani (Co-founder, former CTO)
- **Team size:** approximately 960 employees at peak; significantly reduced after 2024 layoffs
- **Products:** 1:1 Live Tutoring, Review Center, Paper Reading (Readlee), MajorClarity (College & Career Readiness), Paper Missions
- **Notable:** Reached unicorn status (~$1.5B valuation) with its 2022 Series D., Scaled to over 3 million students across 300+ school districts in 40+ states and Canada., Named one of Canada's fastest-growing companies (21st, 2020).

## Products & services

- **1:1 Live Tutoring** — Unlimited, 24/7 on-demand text-based tutoring with vetted educators across subjects and multiple languages.
- **Review Center** — Asynchronous writing feedback where students submit essays and assignments for detailed editorial review.
- **Paper Reading (Readlee)** — AI-powered read-aloud software that pinpoints where students struggle with literacy and fluency.
- **MajorClarity (College & Career Readiness)** — Career exploration, micro-credentialing, resume and essay tools, and college application management.
- **Paper Missions** — Gamified, self-paced math skills practice.
- **GROW High-Impact Tutoring** — Scheduled small-cohort tutoring (typically 3x/week, consistent tutors) aligned to district curriculum with progress monitoring; ESSA Level III evidence.

## Achievements

- Reached unicorn status (~$1.5B valuation) with its 2022 Series D.
- Scaled to over 3 million students across 300+ school districts in 40+ states and Canada.
- Named one of Canada's fastest-growing companies (21st, 2020).
- Acquired Readlee and MajorClarity in 2023 to expand into literacy and career readiness.
- ESSA Level III evidence for its high-impact tutoring program.

## Latest updates

- **2022-02** — Closed $270M USD Series D led by Sapphire and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, reaching unicorn status.
- **2023-03** — Acquired Readlee (AI literacy) and MajorClarity (college & career readiness).
- **2024-08** — Cut ~45% of head-office staff and all Canadian tutors; co-founder Phil Cutler removed as CEO, Rich Yang named interim CEO.
- **2024-09** — Co-founder Roberto Cipriani stepped back from day-to-day role amid continued restructuring.
- **2025-01** — Appointed Silicon Valley edtech veteran Martina Tam as CEO to lead a turnaround.

## Links

- Website: https://paper.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/paperlearning/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/PAPERlearning
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/PAPERLearning
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paperlearning/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paperlearning

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/paper
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-01