For instance, Scientific Learning was founded in early 1996 and received venture capital financing in October of the same year. The company sells its product to individuals and to schools. CBT went public in 1995, and earnings per share of stock have nearly tripled since, reflecting investor confidence in the future of computer-based training systems. Blackboard, Real Education and others offer software platforms to universities to put their courses online. Professors can post reference materials and syllabi without knowing Web programming, and the software provides space for discussion groups, bulletin boards and student tracking.
Investors are equally optimistic about the market for infrastructure services.
Distributors are institutions or companies that distribute content to students, whether electronically or in person. For instance, founded in 1996, DigitalThink sells online tutored computer training courses to corporations, educational institutions and individuals. Roll-up companies are companies created by acquisition of relevant pieces. For educators, the attention of venture capitalists is a portent of the transformation to come. It is this kind of risk-taking investment that has fueled the technology explosion of the '90s.