Instructure’s Company Story
Instructure began with two grad students whose studies in learning software usability motivated them to create a new kind of learning platform—one that would make teaching and learning easier. One Geo Metro-powered road trip, lots of sweat equity, and just over a decade later, Instructure is a thriving public company with a reputation for helping great teaching, learning, and employee development and engagement happen. Our products are used (and loved) in K–12, higher ed, further ed, and businesses across the globe.
2008
Instructure got its “Inc.” and progressed from a big idea to a real-deal tech startup.
2009
The legendary pre-Canvas product validation tour went metro (Geo Metro).
2010
Josh Coates came out of techpreneur retirement to serve as Instructure’s CEO. Canvas became the statewide LMS for all Utah public schools, colleges, and universities.
2011
Instructure formally launched Canvas, disrupting the LMS status quo for better and forever.
2012
Canvas Network began offering open, online courses for everyone, everywhere.
2013
Beyonce played the Super Bowl halftime show. (And Instructure moved its HQ to the Old Mill Corporate Center in SLC, UT.)
2014
Instructure went international with offices in London, Sydney, and Hong Kong.
2015
Instructure formally launched Bridge, the first people-focused employee development and engagement solution. Oh, and Instructure went public on the NYSE (INST).
2016
Instructure launched Interactive Video, a collaborative next-gen video-learning platform. Instructure also added Cinnamon Toast Crunch to its office cereal offerings.
2017
Instructure launched Canvas AMS, acquired Practice (the peer-feedback-driven, video-based professional learning tool), and hit the $1 billion market cap.
2018
Canvas first saw 1 million concurrent users, celebrated its 10th anniversary, welcomed Dan Goldsmith as CEO, and opened markets in LATAM.
Other Facts
HQ’d in SLC, UT w/ 1,200 (and counting) employees worldwide
Publicly traded (INST)
100% Native cloud & 99.9% annual uptime
100% Revenue retention
3,000 Canvas customers in 65+ countries
What our name lacks in pronounce-ability it makes up for in trademark-ability