Karthik Anbalagan Appointed Chief Audience Officer, Craig Pape Named Chief Marketplace Operations Officer

Karthik Anbalagan and Craig Pape

(May 25, 2021) – ����ý, the parent company of Varsity Tutors and a leading curated direct-to-consumer platform for live online learning, today announced that Karthik Anbalagan and Craig Pape have joined the company as Chief Audience Officer and Chief Marketplace Operations Officer, respectively. The hiring of these two executives adds deep experience in operations and technology, including more than 30 years of experience at Amazon, and will further strengthen ����ý’s ability to build scalable systems and processes that support long-term growth as the online learning platform continues to rapidly scale.

“As the demand for online learning grows, ����ý continues to add leaders with the experience and capabilities to build the online learning platform of the future,” said Chuck Cohn, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ����ý. “Both Karthik and Craig bring a tremendous depth and breadth of experience across operations, technology, and product development to ����ý’s leadership team. I look forward to incorporating their insights into our business and benefitting from their deep experience scaling consumer-facing businesses using technology as we continue to transform the way in which people learn.”

As Chief Audience Officer, Mr. Anbalagan will capitalize on ����ý’s expansive and integrated data set to drive the algorithms powering personalized learning experiences and help to define and develop new pathways that meet the needs of the growing legions of online learners, in addition to other operating responsibilities. This specific role will be focused on better personalizing all aspects of the customer journey for various audience segments in pursuit of the company’s bold ambition of one day building 100 $100M businesses. He joins ����ý from Amazon, where he spent over a decade in various management and leadership roles, most recently as Director, New Innovation Programs for Amazon Fashion where he led the development of novel customer experiences including made-on-demand and made-to-measure clothing. His prior roles included building and launching the Amazon Treasure Truck and leading the Kindle Book Store globally. Prior to Amazon, Karthik spent seven years at Microsoft helping to lead feature development in Windows and Windows Live.

“As an advocate of lifelong learning, the opportunity to join ����ý at such an important inflection point in its development is incredibly exciting,” said Karthik Anbalagan. “I am a builder at heart and couldn’t be more eager to help ����ý continue to build its platform by developing more personalized experiences with new and existing audiences and learning formats. This work will support the strong momentum the company is already experiencing and create future vectors of growth.”

As Chief Marketplace Operations Officer, Mr. Pape will lead sourcing and engagement of ����ý’s vast online network of Experts. He also joins ����ý from Amazon, where he spent more than 21 years in a range of general management positions. Most recently, Mr. Pape served as Director of Executive Recruiting, helping to lead executive hiring efforts across the company. Previously, he founded Amazon’s Consumables Private Brands business as employee #1 and held various senior leadership roles in Amazon’s Music division, including owning relationships with artists and record labels.

“Joining ����ý presents a rare opportunity to fundamentally change people’s lives for the better,” said Craig Pape. “No company in the country offers this kind of highly quality live learning delivered at scale. There’s still enormous space to grow. I look forward to welcoming even more Experts onto ����ý’s transformational online learning platform.”

����ý recently announced record first quarter 2021 results, including 100% online revenue growth, doubling year-over-year, and 50% year-over-year total revenue growth. The company experienced strong engagement on its platform with 67% Active Learner growth year-over-year and 186% online paid session growth year-over-year. In January 2021, ����ý agreed to a business combination with TPG Pace Tech Opportunities (NYSE: PACE), a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company associated with global private equity firm TPG. ����ý’s flagship business, Varsity Tutors, is one of the nation’s largest platforms for live online tutoring and classes.  For more information, please visit the ����ý investor relations website /investors to view the first quarter 2021 shareholder letter.

About ����ý

����ý is a leading curated direct-to-consumer platform for live online learning. ����ý’s mission is to transform the way people learn through technology. The Company’s purpose-built ����ý platform leverages technology, including AI, to connect learners of all ages to experts, delivering superior value on both sides of the network. ����ý’s comprehensive learning destination provides learning experiences across 3,000+ subjects and multiple formats—including one-on-one instruction, small group classes, large format group classes, and adaptive self-study. ����ý’s flagship business, Varsity Tutors, is one of the nation’s largest platforms for live online tutoring and classes. Learn more about ����ý at/.

Contacts

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ICR for ����ý
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