Amidst global competition, two Colorado-based startups were among the four selected for Boston edtech accelerator LearnLaunch's Breakthrough Program.
Indigo, a Boulder-based startup that has created an actionable social and emotional learning dashboard, and Denver's InScribe, an AI-powered Q&A platform, were selected to take part in the 5-week program.
In addition to the Colorado companies, Singapore's CognaLearn and San Francisco and Boston-based Skillist were selected for the accelerator.
Since 2013, LearnLaunch has invested in nearly 60 edtech companies, including 2018 Fast Company's Most Innovative Education Company Quill.org.
LearnLaunch is designed for revenue-stage companies and focuses on developing comprehensive growth strategies. The program offers a mix of milestone-based funding, 1-to-1 venture partner support and mentorship to help entrepreneurs achieve product-market fit and develop scaling strategies.
“The edtech industry is undergoing unprecedented growth,” Jean Hammond, co-founder and general partner at LearnLaunch, said in a release. “This change is visible in deeper understanding and appetite for technology solutions coming from education practitioners, larger deal sizes, and world-wide edtech VC funding surpassing $8B in 2018. It’s important now, more than ever, for companies looking to participate in this market to tighten their market entry, growth, and scaling strategies. It’s challenges like these that our Breakthrough program is designed to support companies through.”
InScribe connects students to the support they need - whether from instructors, advisors, alumni or peers. Its A.I. analyzes student interactions, escalating high priority issues and students that require direct intervention, which results in experts spending less time in email, and more time with the students that need help most.
“We’ve been connected to the LearnLaunch community for many years (albeit from a distance). We have been continually impressed by the leadership of the LearnLaunch organization and its commitment to help grow companies in this space. We also appreciate that selling into the education market presents unique challenges and opportunities. We love the idea of being mentored and supported by a team with deep knowledge, experience, and connections in this complex industry,” said co-founder Katy Kappler.
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With its social and emotional learning dashboard, Indigo aims to improve engagement, retention, and career readiness for K-12 and higher education. Indigo delivers insights to K12 and higher-ed customers through its technology platform, equipped with data analytics, curriculum, online courses and career pathway opportunities.
“The LearnLaunch Network will help scale our company so that we can reach more people. The LearnLaunch allies involved care about making a difference and understand how the education system works,” said CEO and founder Sheri Smith.
