A call that Concentric Educational Solutions CEO David Heiber first mistook for a prank led to the Federal Hill company raising a $5 million series A round from New Markets Venture Partners.
Heiber plans to use the capital to add new C-suite executives to the rapidly expanding company along with new features to the company's mobile application to make it easier for parents and school districts to communicate. The company announced the closure of the round on Oct. 5, making Heiber one of the few Black Marylanders to raise a substantial amount of venture capital funding.
The call from the venture capital firm came as a surprise to Heiber since Concentric did not explore the possibility of venture capital funding. The company grew from 20 staff members in 2020 to 147 this year when demand for tutoring, home visits and other student services exploded during the pandemic. New Markets Venture Partners' desire to invest in a Black-led startup for the first time helped close the deal, Heiber said.
“There's a huge responsibility for me to make this work and grow so that other investment firms can fund minority candidates,” Heiber said.
A key aspect to the company's continued growth is expanding the Concentric mobile application to complement in-person tutoring and mentorship. A new feature will allow school districts to message the parents and vice-versa, Heiber said. This approach will give parents the chance to explain their needs to school staff. A parent could ask a school to provide pencils or notebooks for a child to use at home, for example, using the Concentric application.
The company is also exploring integrating online learning to have more consistent check-ins with students. If a Concentric staff member works with a student for three days each week, they could use a Zoom call to share extra information in-between sessions or have a 10 minute review lesson before a test, Heiber said.
Though the company is trying to expand its software, Heiber believes the in-person touch is what makes Concentric stand out in the educational technology field. Concentric places at least two staff members in every partner school to combat truancy, provide in-person tutoring and understand what students and parents need to be successful.
“You have to build authentic, ongoing relationships. And you do that by being in the building five days a week,” Heiber said. “Not just (being there) for your tutoring session or mentoring session.”
Heiber's new group of C-suite executives in charge of spearheading the company's continued growth include CFO Mark Altmark, Chief Revenue Officer Alvin Crawford and new chief operating officer and Baltimore Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree Karlo Young, who previously worked at online education company 2U as chief operating officer. The executives will provide mentorship to Concentric's younger group of directors and other staff at the company, he said.
“I didn't have the capacity while running the company and learning on the fly as the organization grew to give them the mentorship that they deserve,” said Heiber, referring to his younger staff.
