Wimba

Wimba, Inc. is a software company that develops collaborative applications for the education market, spanning both communication-enabling tools and content authoring programs. Its customer base consists primarily of universities, colleges and other post-secondary education providers, alongside corporate training environments.

The product line is built around a suite of online communication tools marketed as Voice Tools, together with an Oral Assessment Builder. Voice Tools include Voice Email, Voice Discussion Boards and Voice Direct, a real-time voice chat room, allowing instructors and students to interact one-to-one or one-to-many. The Oral Assessment Builder lets instructors create online oral assessments and return recorded voice feedback to students, a workflow adopted in language instruction settings. Additional offerings include the Wimba Create authoring product, and the broader platform covers online meetings, webinars and virtual classrooms with analytics and integration into existing learning management systems.

The company was established in 1998 and was formerly named Horizon Wimba, Inc. It is headquartered at 10 East 40th Street, Floor 11, New York City, New York 10016, United States.

Business model

Wimba sells its software to institutions rather than individual end users, contracting directly with universities, schools and corporate enterprises on a business-to-business basis. Institutional licensing arrangements, such as UCLA's access through the University of California Consortium for Language Learning and Teaching, extend use across departments and restrict resources to that institution's own students.

Revenue is generated through a subscription model with multiple pricing tiers based on customer needs and usage levels, typically billed annually or monthly, producing recurring revenue from direct institutional contracts. Flagship products including analytics and learning-management-system integration are bundled into these subscription packages.

Latest developments

Following the May 2022 acquisition by Class Technologies, the stated plans for Wimba include developing new remote-collaboration products and expanding into additional geographic markets.