College Scholarship Platform Raise.me Secures $12M

Financing

College Scholarship Platform Raise.me Secures $12M

Mar 30, 2017

RAISE THE ROOF (AND FUNDS): Where does scholarship money come from, anyway? For Raise.me, a social enterprise that connects students to college scholarships, the answer is venture capital. The company announced it has received $12 million in a financing round led by Redpoint Ventures. GSV Acceleration, Owl Ventures, First Round Capital and SJF Ventures also participated.

Launched nationally in 2014, Raise.me seeks to increase access to higher education for low-income and first generation students via partnerships with more than 250 colleges, including Penn State, Michigan state and NYU. Through Raise.me, the universities offer “micro-scholarships,” or incremental awards, to students starting in ninth grade. Scholarships are based on achievements such as high GPAs or high school work experiences.

Raise.me claims it has served more than 650,000 students from 50 states, and has helped divvy out nearly $1 billion in scholarships.

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