Schoold Announces Successful Close of a $4.5 Million Seed Round
College Hunting App Surpasses 500,000 Downloads in First Month to Help Students Navigate Pathway to and Through College
SAN FRANCISCO, April 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Schoold, a new innovative college planning startup, announced that it has successfully closed a seed round of approximately $4.5 million dollars. Participating investors included FastForward, Lorne Abony, a serial entrepreneur and investor, and several other private investors. Funds will be used to extend and introduce new core functionality to the Schoold app as well as grow the company's engineering and marketing teams. The funding comes on the heels of Schoold announcing the executive appointment of Joe E. Ross, a widely recognized expert education technology leader, as its President and COO.
Schoold's funding reflects continued strong investment in the education-technology sector. According to CBInsights, from 2010 to 2014, funding in EdTech companies experienced a 503% growth in investment dollars, with global EdTech funding rising 58% in 2015.
"We're excited to get this funding from FastForward, Lorne Abony and the rest of our investors. Their investment, coupled with the rapid adoption that Schoold's app is experiencing, is a strong endorsement of our vision, approach and the underlying technology driving the product," said Sourabh Ahuja, CEO of Schoold. "We look forward to building Schoold into the de facto, go-to-app for students and parents alike."
From 0 to 500,000 in 30 Days
Schoold also announced that since the release of its mobile app just 30 days ago, college-bound students and parents have downloaded its namesake app more than 500,000 times. Schoold is a college and career planning app that helps young people and their families plan their educational futures. Launched in late February in the Google Play Store, Schoold vaulted to the number one top free college search app. The following week, Schoold released its iOS app, which also climbed quickly to hover as a top-15 free app in the App Store. The Schoold app has an average rating of more than 4.5 stars and is available for free download in the App Store and Google Play.
The strong reception of the Schoold app comes at a pivotal time. April 1 is the last day by which college admissions decisions are expected by millions of anxious high school students awaiting word about where they've been accepted. Students generally have until May 1 to decide and commit to a college. Schoold's entry into the market comes at the perfect time to help college-bound students and their parents make the best decision possible about where to invest their tuition dollars. Schoold pulls together hard-to-find, disparate data about thousands of colleges and puts all the key metrics in one place, including graduation rates and salary projections, differentiated by each major at each college.
"The choice of a college and a major literally sets the stage for a young person's future career options, earning potential, and job satisfaction," added Schoold President and COO Joe Ross. "Schoold simplifies an unnecessarily confusing, complex process for students and families with a customized, intuitive app powered by rigorous data science."
ABOUT SCHOOLD
Schoold is a private technology company empowering students to make informed decisions. Students face many challenges today, and with Schoold, students get personalized information they need to help them lead happy, successful lives, creating a brighter future for everyone. Learn more at www.schoold.co.
PRESS CONTACT: Carmen Hughes, Ignite Public Relations, carmen@ignitepr.com, +1.650.576.6444
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