Brain Battle
Washington University in St. Louis, Olin Business School
Industry: EdTech
Founding Student Name(s): Joe Poole
Brief Description of Solution: Brain Battle, the “Duolingo of test prep,” makes studying engaging and social while adding the competitive thrill of a favorite mobile game.
Brain Battle makes SAT/ACT preparation accessible, social, and fun. Instead of another dusty textbook or a $100-an-hour tutor, Brain Battle is a mobile game where students compete live against peers, track progress, unlock rewards, and actually want to study. For the first time, test prep feels like a mobile game with real, life-changing outcomes.
Funding Dollars: Through pitch competitions and grants, we’ve raised over $20K in non-dilutive funding, including awards from competitions such as the Olin Cup.
What led you to launch this venture? There is a gap in education that isn’t about talent—it’s about access. Students from the highest income quartile score, on average, 200 points higher on the SAT than those from the lowest. That’s not intelligence; it’s privilege: $100-an-hour tutors, prep classes, and better schools.
95% of teens carry a smartphone in their pocket, yet test prep hasn’t caught up. It’s still expensive, boring, and inequitable. There had to be a better way. That’s why I created Brain Battle—to flip studying on its head and make high-quality test prep available to any student, anywhere.
Students today are surrounded by nonstop engagement: scrolling feeds, constant notifications, and endless content. Traditional prep feels like a chore, but gamified learning feels like play. Brain Battle takes the same elements that keep them hooked—streaks, leaderboards, rewards, and community—and uses them to fuel learning instead. The result is studying that feels addictive in the best way, helping students at every level gain consistency, confidence, and motivation.
What has been your biggest accomplishment so far with the venture? Demonstrating the strength of the app’s concept, we have secured over 1,800 pre-launch sign-ups organically, without paid marketing. We plan to launch in mid-November.
How has your business-related major helped you further this startup venture? Majoring in finance at Olin Business School has given me the ability to view Brain Battle not just as a promising idea, but as a scalable enterprise. The program has helped me to think rigorously about revenue models, and sustainable growth
Which business class has been most valuable in building your startup, and what was the biggest lesson you gained from it? I took The Hatchery with Professor Doug Villhard, an accomplished entrepreneur and Olin’s Academic Director for Entrepreneurship. The course teaches students how to turn ideas into real ventures, and the biggest lesson I took away was the importance of customer validation. Through interviews with students and tutors, we used that feedback to shape Brain Battle’s design.
What business professor made a significant contribution to your plans and why? Professor Doug Villhard has been instrumental. His mentorship encouraged iterative testing, a focus on real customer problems, and attention to long-term scalability.
What founder or entrepreneur inspired you to start your own entrepreneurial journey? How did he or she prove motivational to you? Luis von Ahn, founder of Duolingo, has been one of my biggest role models. I’ve followed his journey since I first began exploring education technology and am continually inspired by the way he blends innovation with purpose. He didn’t just create an app; he built a movement around making learning accessible and enjoyable.
What is your long-term goal with your startup? In the near term, our focus is on disciplined execution of our go-to-market plan: acquiring 10,000 users, scaling school and tutoring partnerships, and launching a web-based dashboard to deepen engagement with educators. Over the next three to five years, we aim to establish Brain Battle as the clear category leader in gamified learning for Gen Z.
While our initial entry point is ACT/SAT prep, the long-term roadmap includes expansion into core K–12 subjects. The goal is to build a scalable, data-driven ecosystem that transforms how the next generation learns and delivers measurable academic outcomes.
How has your local startup ecosystem contributed to your venture’s development and success?
Wash U and St. Louis have an enthusiastic startup community that has provided recognition and support. I founded Brain Battle in response to the opportunity gap we observed in local schools, where high-potential students lacked access to affordable, engaging test prep solutions. St. Louis represents a high-need, high-impact launch market. For our efforts, the St. Louis Business Journal named us an Inno Under 25 recipient.
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