2022 – Wrapping up a Year of Recovery and Rebound!
2022 was a year of recovery and rebound for most people, including our education system. Some of the shifts that occurred are here to stay, and some were just temporary. Masks and hand sanitizer fixtures may become a thing of the past but virtual classes, events, and tours will be here for the foreseeable future.
Disruptions in the college admission space continued in 2022. California State University’s board unanimously voted to eliminate SAT/ACT for its 23 campuses’ admission – going completely test-blind, a step beyond test-optional. With that, 80% of colleges now do not require any test score for their fall 2023 admission.
Every December we look in the rear-view mirror at our growth and then look though our windshield at the road ahead showing us our bright future. What we see today is the enormous opportunity to make education more effective, efficient, and equitable. Here are some of our accomplishments in 2022.
Our Contribution and Recognition in Education System:
Throughout the year, we continued sharing our learnings and contributing to the education ecosystem. From analysis of the latest enrollment numbers after May 1st College Decision Day to Top Five Trends from NACAC2022 – Reinventing the Education System, we participated in unraveling of continually evolving college admissions space.
We are thrilled and proud to be recognized as trailblazers by various organizations. Holon IQ selected Cirkled In as the Top 200 EdTech Companies in North America that are disrupting the education system – 2nd year in a row!
Our commitment to bringing equity in the education system was recognized by the American Consortium of Equity in Education by awarding Cirkled In as the “Best Online and Blended Learning Solution”.
Our CEO, Reetu Gupta was added to “Founders to Watch in 2022” by the reputed Puget Sound Business Journal.
Tremendous Growth in Every Market:
Cirkled In continued gaining popularity among Gen-Z students. This year, we set a new record of a staggering 3,280 new student sign-ups in a day.
Not only that, students have also added 2.6 million activities on Cirkled In – from Academics to Sports to Music and Volunteering - 2.6 million accomplishments that were not visible to the decision makers before, helping to make the best-fit match between students and educational and employment opportunities. Students added 13,000 colleges to their favorite colleges list.
Schools all over the country, from Florida to Hawaii, adopted Cirkled In as the 21st-century College and Career Readiness solution. Our very first high school customer renewed the contract for 5th year in a row! We also had a high school making Cirkled In as a graduation-requirement!
And more and more colleges are “asking” students to put in their Cirkled In profile link in the application, including Common App. We are very proud of our ability to provide a 360-degree view of the candidates to college recruiters.
Next year we look forward to working with colleges on Direct Admission enabling direct admission of students into colleges.
Enhancing Cirkled In to Meet Students’ Needs:
This year, we put even more power in hands of individual students. Now they can access great features of Cirkled In through individual subscriptions, in addition to through their high school and youth organizations.
With the Pro Stats addition, now Cirkled In lets athletes and musician students showcase themselves through short videos and professional stats.
We invest efforts in engaging students ensuring that they benefit from Cirkled In. This year, we enhanced Cirkled In giving schools the ability to see profile percentage completion of their students. With that we join hands with schools to make the most out of Cirkled In for students.
Showcasing Cirkled In:
We are honored to get coverage in a variety of media of print and online, local and national, educational and consumer. We recorded podcasts, were published, and also for a little bit of TV coverage.
Excited about our latest coverage in Forbes magazine showing the value of Cirkled In as the new generation of Gen-Z students enter the higher education and employment market.
One of our favorite conferences NACAC gave us the opportunity to bring in our champion teachers into our booth who enthusiastically shared their experiences with the visitors. And we got to share our story on NACAC TV also!
We also exhibited at various conferences throughout the year. We were honored to be selected as a start up by Collision Conference and had opportunity to showcase Cirkled In in our first international conference (Canada counts!).
We are wrapping up 2022 with a bow on the top and looking forward to an amazing 2023! The new year will bring new hopes and opportunities to continue the good things of this year and add new great things as life normalizes around us.
We thank you all for your continued support and confidence in us.
We wish you all a relaxing winter break. May you enjoy your holiday break with love, peace, and joy and we will see you all in 2023!
Have a Happy and Healthy Holiday season,
Cirkled In Team