CampusESP is bucking the remote work trend in the tech and startup world, signing a new lease for Center City office space amid three consecutive years of rapid growth.
The startup that acts as a resource for parents in the college decision process has taken a 5,500-square-foot space at the Graham Building at One Penn Square West. The company, founded in 2016, has seen revenue and customers double each of the last three years. It’s grown to count about 300 colleges and universities as clients. CampusESP totaled some $6 million in revenue in 2022 and is tracking to hit $10 million in 2023.
The bootstrapped company works in a hybrid format, and has operated out of a coworking space in the Graham Building. The new lease gives CampusESP a home base, something that founder Dave Becker thinks will make it easier to “create a culture of our own.”
“Coworking didn’t let us become ourselves,” Becker said. “Having our own space lets us be weird.”
Becker, a Philadelphia native and previous founder of fashion tech company Beacon & Lively, is fostering a culture at CampusESP that isn’t just “weird,” but also progressive. He offers perks like a concert credit in which the CampusESP pays for concert tickets if coworkers go to a show together. It also uses “HeyTaco,” a Slack add-on that allows colleagues to trade digital tacos with an associated monetary value for positive work performance. They can be exchanged for physical tacos.
CampusESP was named a Best Place to Work by the Philadelphia Business Journal in 2022 and was among the region's five fastest-growing companies as well.
Perks like those have played a role in the startup’s ability to recruit young talent. Becker said that almost half of the 43-person team is in their 20s and half of that cohort relocated to Philadelphia for the job. He thinks having office space will help mentorship.
CampusESP is also in an industry that is largely in flux — and it’s not tech. Becker said he also recruits from a higher ed landscape that is currently seeing more turnover than it has in the past. Besides 20-somethings, CampusESP employs many veterans of higher ed and Becker thinks the office space will be a catalyst for mentorship and collaboration.
Becker intends to add to his team throughout the year, bucking another trend in the tech world with layoffs battering some of the nation’s — and region’s — largest tech firms. He hopes the company can get to 50 employees by the end of the year.
CampusESP has also found that as colleges and universities cope with falling enrollment numbers, there has been more emphasis on the parents’ role in the decision-making process. The platform serves to drive parent engagement, with client schools able to communicate directly with parents during the application process. Becker said enrollment troubles have made it all the more critical for schools to reach parents and families.
More schools are also going test optional, wiping out what had been a main avenue for colleges to gather contact information and reach students. CampusESP’s growing database of parents acts as a way to fill that void, Becker said. However, schools are also increasingly looking at ways to cut costs, which could be a challenge for the startup to contend with.
"We're an enrollment solution and we have an enrollment impact, so [falling enrollment] drives a lot of our conversations," Becker said.
