NEW SEED FUND: Really, we'd like to call this the "Ramen Fund." Two longtime associate partners of NewSchools Venture Fund are leading its newly created "Seed Fund" aimed at supporting young companies in that delicate phase between idea germination and revenue. Jennifer Carolan and Wayee Chu aim to make six to nine investments a year, between $50K-$250K in companies in the K-12 space that improve sharing among educators, lead to high quality, scalable learning content, spur personalized instruction and increase access while lowering costs.They bring a lot to the table: their expertise in working with edtech startups as well as a growing circle of angel investors who are themselves experienced entrepreneurs.
Their first fresh investments will be $200K in GoalBook, an Imagine K12 startup that is building a platform to manage Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) for students, starting with special needs kids, and $100K in EnGrade, an online grade book. (GoalBook is still in the midst of fundraising so expect more on this soon.) Jennifer and Wayee have a direct, no-nonsense approach: just drop them a note (Jennifer here, Wayee here) with "Seed Fund" in the subject line. Explain the big problem you're after and why your startup fits the above criteria. They're all about investing in edtech hungry startups "running on good ideas, fast Internet connections, and ramen."
