Kaleidoscope Group, a company developing a software platform to manage private scholarships and grants, announced Wednesday that it had closed its Series A funding round at $3 million.
The funds come from Rally Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Minneapolis, and historically one the most active investors in Minnesota startups. As part of the deal, Rally Ventures General Partner Justin Kaufenberg will join Kaeidoscope's board of directors.
Kaufenberg joined Rally in October 2019 after leaving SportsEngine, a Minneapolis sports-tech company that he co-founded and led for more than a decade. He is also on the board of Rally portfolio companies Total Expert and Anyroad.
"Justin is a superb leader with deep entrepreneurial and investment expertise and an impressive track record as co-founder and former CEO of SportsEngine," Kaleidoscope CEO Greg Dehn said in a statement. "I've had an opportunity to learn from Justin the last few years, which is why I'm honored to have him and the Rally Ventures team part of our exciting future."
Kaleidoscope’s marketplace connects potential funders (like corporations, foundations or high-net-worth individuals) to students. Kaleidoscope designs, implements and administers these scholarships on behalf of funder organizations.
"We've developed some really great traction in the market," Dehn told Minne Inno. "Our assumption about demand has proven to be correct."
Kaleidoscope currently offers 2,000 scholarships and grants on its marketplace and has more than 500,000 participants on this platform.
The company has now raised $6 million in venture capital to date.
Dehn said that the fresh funds will be used to expand the use of Kaleidoscope's platform and grow its Minneapolis-based team. The company is currently hiring account managers and sales representatives.
"Our talented and diverse team is representative of the clients and students we work with, and we are excited to welcome even more team members this year," Bronte Jagodzinski, Kaleidoscope's vice president of marketing and operations, said in a statement.
Kaleidoscope plans to have 35 people on its staff by the end of the year.
As the company continues to grow, Dehn hopes that its scholarships and grants will provide financial relief and support to college students and their families.
"I think loans are an outdated and ineffective financial solution," Dehn said. "Corporations, community foundations and other groups are really stepping up where student loans and government grants have failed kids. We believe that scholarships and grants privately funded and smartly deployed are the answer."
