EDOVO, a Chicago-based company that provides an online learning platform for incarcerated people, has raised $9 million from investors including the Lumina Foundation, Impact Engine and Kapor Capital. The startup’s tablet-based program offers lessons in literacy, college course work, cognitive behavioral therapy and vocational training, and more according to TechCrunch. The company also provides connectivity and hardware for facilities that purchase Edovo.
Edovo’s raise comes amid a time when rates of incarceration are increasing, and while funding for education programs in prisons is at risk of cuts. For example, under the Obama administration a pilot program restored Pell grants for prisoners, allowing nearly 4,000 incarcerated people to afford college-level courses and vocational training. That pilot program must be renewed every year, however, and its fate is uncertain under the Trump administration, the Marshall Project reports.
