Scott Morris says St. Peters-based ScholarPath has an atypical identity for a technology startup.
“What I like to tell people is this is a business that is for-profit, but it has the heart of a nonprofit,” said Morris, CEO of ScholarPath.
ScholarPath has created a workforce development social network that connects high school students with employers and universities. Its founders, brothers Bill and Doug Mitchell, launched the company with a desire to help cultivate the next generation of America’s workforce.
Founded in 2018, ScholarPath launched its software in 2020 and is currently in growth mode. In 2022, it has expanded its roster of users, grown its headcount and raised millions in funding.
ScholarPath has developed software designed to be used by schools as well as what it calls providers — employers, universities and military recruiters — to connect students with career and postsecondary education opportunities. Both schools and providers pay to be on the platform, ScholarPath said.
Morris said ScholarPath is intended to allow students to interact with universities and employers, giving them a portal to learn about more universities and employers and requirements needed to meet their postsecondary goals. Providers on the platform can use filters to find students who would be good fits for their organizations. For example, ScholarPath says employers can search for “ideal student candidates based on academic history and personal characteristics.”
Because of student privacy laws, ScholarPath says specific student information and identities are shielded on its platform until parents consent to having it shared with providers. Once parents allow that, providers have the ability to connect individually with students regarding postsecondary options.
ScholarPath says it is currently used by schools in two states and that it has plans to expand its roster to additional locations in the next academic year.
“We expect to be in all 50 states and it’s just a question how quickly we can integrate (our technology) with the schools,” Morris said.
ScholarPath said it was unable to disclose schools currently using its platform, though the company announced in a press release in August that Wentzville School District in St. Charles County had signed on to use its platform.
Meanwhile, the company said it has signed on more than 500 providers to use its platform in the locations where it currently operates. Its website lists its provider partners as including several branches of the U.S. military and multiple colleges, including St. Charles Community College and Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. Employer partners include Drury Hotels, Daugherty Business Solutions, S.M. Wilson, and McCarthy Building Cos.
As it seeks expansion, Morris said acquisitions could be part of growth strategy to help it enter new geographies and add features to its technology.
“I’m a big fan of looking for those synergies and not reinventing the wheel and competing against each other if it’s not necessary,” he said.
For Morris, the ambition to increase adoption of ScholarPath’s platform is about more than growing the company. He says the startup’s motivation is to help bring new talent into an aging workforce. Locally, data in the recently released 2022 State of the St. Louis Workforce Report showed the percentage of workers 55 years of age or older in the local workforce has climbed in the past decade to account for 24.1% of workers in 2021, up from 19.2% in 2011. ScholarPath believes it can be a key tool for employers to find younger workers.
“When you have businesses and schools starting to work together, that’s encouraging,” Morris said.
ScholarPath earlier this year closed on a “multimillion-dollar” funding round to fuel its growth. The company declined to disclose the amount of capital it raised or identify its investors.
ScholarPath has used the capital to expand its team, which includes about 30 employees. Half of its staff has been hired since May.
ScholarPath’s board of directors include several individuals with ties to local business, including Dan Geraty, founder and former CEO of local payments company Clearent; Ron Mauer, a former executive at Express Scripts; Mike Stolte, chief financial officer of law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner; and David Truetzel, principal at Clayton-based U.S. Capital Development.
