Two years ago, Tampa-based edtech startup Script launched to help schools go from paperwork to paperless.
It was a move that made sense to CEO Aaron White: District officials can't track physical paper, so if there was a holdup it would take several steps and discussions to alleviate the problem.
Then, the coronavirus pandemic hit, forcing virtually every district in the United States to go remote.
"We were ready to go; it was like we shot out of the cannon," White said. "We were ready to provide the tools to districts. For anyone in the education sector, the biggest barrier to entry is the fear to change. With Covid, there wasn't a fear of change — they had to change."
Script helps convert paper-based documents digitally, building out a digital automation process for districts to better navigate the reams of paperwork seen in the education sector.
Like other education technology startups across the nation, Script has seen massive growth in the last eight months. In 2019, the company had a presence in less than 10 states — now it's up to 23.
"We come in almost with a consultant mindset, hear what they are looking for and match up what our program offers," Dan Greco, Script's COO, said. "It gives schools a better transparency, mobility and compliance versus traditional papers — whether that's a financial document or multi-signature document — the system can carry it through to succession."
Script recently added $500,000 in fresh capital to its $1.5 million raise initiated in April 2019, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission documents. White said the new funding will help further the company's growth, from adding teammates to marketing and investing in new technology. The Script team currently has 13 employees, five who were added in the last two months, and its headquarters is in Tampa-based coworking space Workhouse. It is also the first two-time Blazer winner for Tampa Bay Inno's Inno on Fire awards, chosen by a panel of local judges.
"We as an organization have prepared for a tremendous 2021 and 2022, and we're trying to scale the organizations to be able to service that growth that we expect," Greco said.
While White said the K-12 space is currently Script's "home," there is potential to grow in the higher education sector or expand beyond the education field altogether.
"Right now education is our home, that's where we started — who knows what the future would hold, but right now this is our home," he said. "We get requests from higher education institutions all the time, but right now we own the K-12 space."
