Kelowna-based edtech startup FreshGrade has raised a $4.3 million seed round led by NewSchools Venture Fund, Emerson Collective, Accel Partners and Social Capital.
Designed by developers in collaboration with teachers and parents, FreshGrade is an education resource for administrators, teachers, and parents allowing for maximum classroom engagement and real-time assessment. The company said it does this by “mirroring how people communicate and use technology today.”
Founded in 2011, FreshGrade said its tool underwent a “rigorous development and testing progress” as the founders built a reliable and valuable resource for parents and educators.
“FreshGrade is designed to provide richer reporting and communication capabilities while cutting down on the amount of time required from teachers and administrators,” said cofounder Steve Wandler. “Ultimately our vision is to be able to streamline lesson planning and assessment and allow administrators and teachers to spend more time working with students and communicating with parents.”
The startup already managed to convince a pretty large client in the education space within Canada. This Fall the Surrey School District, the largest school district in British Columbia and one of the largest in Canada, will implement FreshGrade as its standard reporting tool for the 2014-2015 school year.
“FreshGrade has done something unique in the edtech marketplace – they have built a single platform to align parents, students and teachers around a child’s learning goals,” said NewSchools Venture Fund’s Jennifer Carolan. “FreshGrade is rethinking assessment and communication in a way that takes advantage of the latest technologies to enrich how we support each child. We are thrilled to back this exceptional team.”
Ultimately, FreshGrade’s vision is to be able to curate educational content and resources for teachers that will streamline lesson planning and assessment and allow for more time spent working with students and communicating with parents. FreshGrade was named among edSurge’s Top S’Cool Tools for Q2 2014 in June 2014.
