Shani Dowell made some history in 2019 by raising more than $1 million of venture funding for her Nashville-based startup. She was touted as the first Black woman entrepreneur in Tennessee to reach that milestone, which fewer than 40 Black women nationwide had reached at the time. That tally is growing, and so is Dowell's business. She's banked an even larger round of investment, which she believes will propel her company to triple its scale this year. Her sights are set on an eight-figure target in 2025.
Company name: Possip Inc.
What they do: Dowell, who was an educator for more than 20 years, created Possip in 2017. The "edtech" business connects school administrators, teachers and parents through text messages and weekly emails that gauge needs and overall experiences with the school. Possip spots trends and tracks data stemming from that feedback, helping schools prioritize their responses.
Amount raised: $3.89 million, according to a new regulatory filing that cites an eventual target of $7.1 million
Investors: 15 total, according to the filing. Chief investors were previous Possip backers, such as TTCER Partners. That is the fund of Jim Ellis and Kevin Taweel, the co-founders of Asurion (Nashville's largest private company by revenue) as well as Gerald Risk, a former high-ranking Asurion executive. Taxpayer-funded organization Launch Tennessee also was a return investor. The others, Dowell said, are "individual investors who represent CEOs of companies, investment and financial professionals, as well as entrepreneurs."
The numbers: More than 1,000 schools in 33 states use Possip, totaling 500,000 users. "By the end of 2022, we will triple our scale," Dowell said. "And by 2025, we will cross 10 million users and work within thousands of schools, districts and other organizations."
Why it matters: Dowell aims to be a role model and she remains involved with the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, among other organizations. Possip's growth could serve to shine a light on other minority-owned startups in Nashville. As for the business itself, Dowell sees the potential to expand beyond education. "The pandemic and other social changes over the past two years showed how much schools and districts need to hear from families, and their whole community," she said. "The past two years also showed that many other organizations needed to quickly and easily hear from their diverse and dispersed people."
What the funds will be used for: "Possip will continue investing in our platform and technology, as well as our growth and scale with new and existing partners," Dowell said. "We are raising more funding to continue scaling growth — particularly so our technology can maximize [artificial intelligence] and [natural language processing] for more user groups, and scale our sales and marketing, and data and insights."
Quotable: "Our world moves faster than ever, and schools and organizations needs to build bridges within diverse constituencies," Dowell said. "We are open to additional investment interest, as there is a big growth opportunity ahead."
