Key Takeaways
- • EasyA, an AI and blockchain developer education company founded in 2019 by brothers Phil and Dom Kwok, is valued at $1.1 billion and is being taken public through a direct listing while the founders retain full ownership, according to Inc.
- • EasyA's 1.3 million registered users pay nothing; revenue comes from partners such as Google and Ripple that pay up front to reach developers, with contracts the founders say range from the mid six figures to the mid seven figures.
- • The company's model shifted after a failed subscription test of roughly £10 (about $15) per month, which the founders dropped in favor of free access and school sales before pivoting to partner-funded hackathons in 2022.
- • Polkadot was EasyA's first major blockchain customer, Ripple signed around 2024, and contracts are multi-year and billed semi-annually or annually.
- • The U.S. accounts for 61% of EasyA's users and 80% of its commercial clients, per the company, with 30 employees and offices in San Francisco, New York and London.
Summary
EasyA, an AI and blockchain developer education company, is being taken public through a direct listing at a reported valuation of $1.1 billion, with co-founders Phil and Dom Kwok retaining full ownership. The brothers, both London-born, say they have raised no venture capital. The announcement comes as AI startups drew $102 billion in venture funding last quarter, 64% of global investment, according to Crunchbase data published October 5.
Phil Kwok, now chief executive, is a Cambridge-trained computer scientist who became a New York attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell. Dom Kwok, now chief operating officer, previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Blackstone after Wharton. Both left those roles in 2019 and started EasyA, which Phil said the brothers funded with their life savings.
The company's business model evolved considerably. Its first product was a study app connecting people with questions to people with answers. The founders tested a subscription of about £10 a month, roughly $15, and abandoned it. They made the app free and sold it to schools, beginning with their own secondary school, but revenue fell close to zero while they pursued users. The turning point came in 2022, when EasyA relaunched in San Francisco around its first hackathon, which drew about 70 developers and convinced the founders that teaching developers to build on new technology was the business.
Today, partners pay EasyA to feature their challenges in the app and at hackathons. A partner such as Ripple specifies how many developers and startups it wants building on its technology, and EasyA promotes those challenges. Polkadot was the first major blockchain customer, and Ripple signed around 2024. Contracts are multi-year and billed semi-annually or annually. According to the company, the U.S. represents 61% of users and 80% of commercial clients. EasyA is headquartered in San Francisco with 30 employees and offices in New York and London. The article also cites Walden Yan, a co-founder of Cognition, who pitched at an EasyA hackathon at Harvard, according to EasyA.
Phil Kwok, now chief executive, is a Cambridge-trained computer scientist who became a New York attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell. Dom Kwok, now chief operating officer, previously worked at Goldman Sachs and Blackstone after Wharton. Both left those roles in 2019 and started EasyA, which Phil said the brothers funded with their life savings.
The company's business model evolved considerably. Its first product was a study app connecting people with questions to people with answers. The founders tested a subscription of about £10 a month, roughly $15, and abandoned it. They made the app free and sold it to schools, beginning with their own secondary school, but revenue fell close to zero while they pursued users. The turning point came in 2022, when EasyA relaunched in San Francisco around its first hackathon, which drew about 70 developers and convinced the founders that teaching developers to build on new technology was the business.
Today, partners pay EasyA to feature their challenges in the app and at hackathons. A partner such as Ripple specifies how many developers and startups it wants building on its technology, and EasyA promotes those challenges. Polkadot was the first major blockchain customer, and Ripple signed around 2024. Contracts are multi-year and billed semi-annually or annually. According to the company, the U.S. represents 61% of users and 80% of commercial clients. EasyA is headquartered in San Francisco with 30 employees and offices in New York and London. The article also cites Walden Yan, a co-founder of Cognition, who pitched at an EasyA hackathon at Harvard, according to EasyA.
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