Synap Explained

Synap
Former Name:MyCQs
Num Employees:14
Type:Private Company
Foundation:October 2015
Founders:James Gupta & Omair Vaiyani
Location:Leeds, United Kingdom
Area Served:Worldwide
Key People:James Gupta
(CEO)
Omair Vaiyani
(CTO)
Industry:Education Applications
Parent:Synap Learning Ltd

Synap is an intelligent online assessment and learning platform that uses the principles of spaced repetition to enhance long-term retention and accelerate learning. Spaced repetition has been shown to increase the rate of memorisation.[1]

History

Synap was co-founded in 2015 by Dr. James Gupta and Dr. Omair Vaiyani, both graduates of Leeds Medical School. Originally conceived under the name 'MyCQs', the platform initially operated as a native iOS application and website, catering primarily to UK medical students. It allowed users to create and share crowdsourced quizzes in a Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) format, leveraging spaced repetition principles similar to tools like Anki.[2] [3] [4]

During Synap's early years, James Gupta briefly served as the Chief Technology Officer for JumpIn, a student-focused taxi booking app that was later acquired by Addison Lee in 2014.[5] [6] Following this acquisition, James returned to focus on advancing MyCQs alongside co-founder Omair Vaiyani.

In 2014, MyCQs secured funding and mentorship from Jisc, an education technology charity,[7] and received a scholarship from The University of Leeds,[8] enabling the integration of sophisticated algorithms grounded in educational psychology.[9] These developments led to a strategic pivot towards personalised learning,[10] prompting the company to rebrand as Synap in 2015.[11]

Synap experienced significant milestones in subsequent years, including a successful equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube in August 2015.[12] [13] James and Omair graduated from medical school in 2017, thereafter committing full-time to Synap's growth by expanding the team and establishing offices in Leeds.

In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Synap intensified its focus on online examinations in response to increased demand for remote learning solutions.[14] [15] By 2023, Synap developed Synoptic, an in-house proctoring solution that monitored over 1,000 exams within six months, addressing the need for secure online examination environments.

Infrastructure

Synap was originally developed on Facebook's Parse platform.[16] In January 2016, Facebook announced that Parse would be closing down, and advised developers to migrate their apps to other services.[17] As of March 2016, Synap has been hosted on Amazon Web Services, using the newly open-sourced Parse Server, which itself uses Node.js. The website is developed in Ember.js, and uses a MongoDB database, making Synap an example of full-stack JavaScript development.[18]

Recognition

Synap has been featured in The Oxford Public Health Magazine.[19]

In December 2015, Synap was listed as one of 10 British AI companies to look out for by Business Insider.[20]

Selected as a Runner-up for ‘EdTech of the Year’ at the 2021 British Data Awards.[21]

Selected as a Finalist for 'Innovation of the Year' and 'Education Initiative of the Year' at the 2024 British Data Awards.[22]

Products and Services

Synap offers a comprehensive suite of educational tools and services:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Smolen . Paul . Zhang . Yili . Byrne . John H. . The right time to learn: mechanisms and optimization of spaced learning . Nature Reviews Neuroscience . 25 January 2016 . 17 . 2 . 77–88 . 10.1038/nrn.2015.18 . 26806627 . 5126970 . 1606.08370 . 2016arXiv160608370S .
  2. https://medhealth.leeds.ac.uk/download/933/mbchb_brochure "Leeds Medicine Undergraduate Academic Brochure (p32)"
  3. http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/university-of-leeds-students-aiming-to-get-top-marks-for-smartphone-app-1-5058922 "University of Leeds students aiming to get top marks for smartphone app"
  4. https://time.leeds.ac.uk/time/time_osce.php "Student Generated Resources"
  5. http://blog.jackwills.com/young-brits-story-far/ "Young brits: the winner's stories so far"
  6. http://www.cab4now.co.uk/blog/rideshare/rideshare/ "2015: Year of the rideshare?"
  7. https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/summer-of-student-innovation-2014 "Jisc Summer of Student Innovation 2014"
  8. http://www.leeds.ac.uk/forstaff/news/article/4610/university_bootcamp_puts_fledgling_entrepreneurs_through_their_paces "University bootcamp puts fledgling entrepreneurs through their paces"
  9. http://www.aistartups.org/2016/01/interview-with-james-gupta-ceofounder.html "Interview with James Gupta, CEO & Founder of Synap"
  10. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/james-gupta/the-death-of-the-universi_b_8173492.html "The death of the university lecture"
  11. https://synap.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/207106445-What-Is-Synap- "Synap FAQ: What is Synap?"
  12. https://www.crowdcube.com/investment/synap-19333 "Crowdcube official pitch page for Synap"
  13. http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/725346-edtech-entrepreneurs-launch-180-000-crowdfunding-campaign.html "Edtech entrepreneurs launch £180,000 crowdfunding campaign"
  14. Web site: admin-risepoint . 2020-06-03 . Coronavirus sparks an increased interest in distance learning . 2024-06-20 . University of Birmingham . en-US.
  15. Web site: Online learning gets its moment due to COVID-19 pandemic: Here's how education will change . 2024-06-20 . ZDNET . en.
  16. https://synap.ac/blog/developing-an-effective-technology-stack "Developing an effective technology stack"
  17. http://blog.parse.com/announcements/moving-on/ "Moving On"
  18. http://stackshare.io/synap-ac/synap-ac "Synap.ac's technology stack"
  19. https://issuu.com/oxfordpublichealth/docs/oxph_magazine_issue_4_apr2016 "Oxford Public Health Magazine Issue 4: Innovation and social entrepreneurship (p32-33"
  20. https://www.businessinsider.com/10-british-ai-companies-to-look-out-for-in-2016-2015-12 "10 British AI companies to look out for in 2016"
  21. Web site: 2021-05-04 . British Data Awards 2021 Winners Announced Predatech . 2024-06-20 . predatech.co.uk . en-GB.
  22. Web site: 2024-03-19 . British Data Awards 2024: Finalists Announced Predatech . 2024-06-20 . predatech.co.uk . en-GB.

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