Greg Dehn founded Kaleidoscope to give college students an all-in-one solution to navigate the complex landscape of awards-based college scholarships.
Founded in 2017, the Minneapolis-based startup has steered over $150 million to students by pairing applicants with organizations that sponsor scholarship programs. But the company isn’t just stopping at eliminating barriers to education.
Dehn’s larger vision is to change how people enter and interact with the job market after they receive their diploma. To do that, Kaleidoscope launched an award builder that allows sponsors to design and launch their own program within minutes.
Once a sponsor is matched with an applicant, Kaleidoscope doesn’t want the relationship to end after the check is cashed. The management platform facilitates communication between the sponsor and the recipient, allowing a long-term bond to form between the two parties.
“It’s a recognition of the collision between corporate social responsibility and bridging the skills gap,” Dehn said.
The award builder is also giving individual, private donors the ability to fund its over 900,000 users in a similar way to sites like GoFundMe or Kickstarter.
Last month, the company also announced it made two executive appointments. Peter Baskin was named chief product officer and Pete Jacoby was named chief technology officer.
Baskin will prioritize bringing the company’s product and marketing strategy in line with its broader vision. Jacoby will lead product development, engineering and IT operations.
The executive hires are part of a broader hiring push that will more than double the company’s employee count from 30 to at least 80 or 90 by next year, according to Dehn.
Kaleidoscope has raised a total of $6 million in venture funding since its founding.
