LEAVING THE AMAZON: At last year's SXSWedu, as Amazon launched its "Inspire" platform, Rohit Agarwal, General Manager for the company's K-12 Education program, talked about how the Seattle giant aimed to support the open education resources space. Agarwal said the platform would serve the "ultimate goal of every teacher having collective knowledge and insight.”
However, during this year's SXSWedu season, Agarwal, who joined Amazon when it acquired TenMarks, the math company he cofounded, is singing a different tune. He announced his decision to leave Amazon in a post on LinkedIn:
“After 3+ years at Amazon and almost 9 since founding TenMarks, it’s time to build something new. Looking forward to taking some time off and researching ideas for a new venture.”
Agarwal is the second TenMarks founder to have left the Seattle-based tech giant. Like Agarwal, Andrew Joseph, TenMarks other cofounder, joined the Amazon Education team as VP of Strategic Relations after TenMarks was acquired in 2013. Joseph left Amazon last October and is now chief executive of School by Design, which spun out of Amplify.
The Amazon Education Twitter handle has not been active since February 7 of this year. However, an Amazon spokesperson tells EdSurge, "Amazon remains committed to K-12 education and innovating on behalf of students and teachers.”
