Transcend Network

Introducing 31 founders joining Transcend’s TF16 cohort! ?? Anne M. Spear, PhD (Plan Forward): decision making tool for K-12 leaders Antoinette Banks (Expert IEP): empowering parents of children with learning differences Ashton MacSaylor (Story Tables): table top gaming for kids Bruna Waitman (Instituto Sol): helping 9th-grade students discover the best vocational course Christina Rodriguez (Tumbleweed Publications): empowering young minds with dyslexia through innovative tools & personalized learning Cleber Guedes (Programadores do Amanh?): connects companies with underrepresented youth in Brazil for tech job opportunities Emil Chichioi (Bloomcoding): AR-device for immersive coding education Erik Weitnauer (Graspable Inc.): brings algebra notation to life Felix Weaver (Thiiia): improve engagement and learning outcomes Florencia de Zavalia (Zelmira Learning): adapting content for neurodivergent students. Iris(Mingruo) Q. (MathAstro): Duolingo for High School and College Math Jessica Shelley (Dailies): small group classes and AI-powered tools Jonathan Muruako (Fitalyst): AI browser homepages for first-gen college student success Kat Wifvat, PhD (Nuubi): stack overflow for online classes with soft skill certificates Laura Cunningham (Ava): AI-powered household concierge lewitt Somarajan (Life Lab): making STEM learning playful for school children Manuel Vielma (E-PISTEME): hands-on, interactive resources for STEM education Max H. (100 School): daily 30-min skill workouts ENONCHONG MICHAEL ENEKE (YAKILI): bilingual online learning platform Neil Ruaro (Intellecs): streamline research and academic writing workflow Nijansh (Nish) Kothari (Lingotune): language learning through music Oliver Beach (flowstateinc): a new OS for technical managers Olivia Tomaeno (Knowalla Inc.): learning-by-teaching platform Patrick Cui (Integral): campus intelligence platform for supercharging student engagement Philip Montgomery (Geni): make boring assignments engaging Robert Sovik (Harpier): collecting and curating impactful stories to drive higher conversions Sara Taylor (Perfect Match Schools): helps teachers find their perfect school Sean Wheelock (Inner Peak AI): provides students 24/7 wellness support Shield X. (Ainia): safe, empathetic and educational AI friends for children Stephanie Frenel (SchoolOps AI): transforming School Operations Venki Mandapati (UpSquad): transforms talent into qualified professionals Learn more about our TF16 fellows and the startups they are building by visiting our Fellow Directory: ?? https://lnkd.in/gvuFaZMt

Come walk with us to kick off the ASU+GSV Summit! ?? Start your week with fresh air, great conversations, and new founder connections at our Edtech Founder Walk! ??? Monday, April 7 | 9:00 AM PT ?? Embarcadero Marina Park North (meet in front of Malibu Farm, by the statue in the grass) We’ll take a relaxed 20-minute walk along the waterfront—no agenda, just a chance to meet fellow founders, share insights, and set the tone for an amazing ASU-GSV week. RSVP for this event here ?? https://lu.ma/atp3735l If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to?Alberto Arenaza?or?Michael Narea from our team

Meet the 5 Transcend Fellows (TF16) building AI-driven solutions for K-12 schools! From adaptive tools supporting students with learning challenges to platforms reimagining how schools engage with math, science, and literacy, these founders are leveraging AI to build cutting-edge solutions to? empower K-12 communities. Here are 5 such founders who are redefining the K-12 ecosystem with AI ?? Olivia Tomaeno is building Knowalla Inc. ?? Flipping the expert-novice dynamic by turning learners into teachers on an innovative educational platform Philip Montgomery is building Geni ?? Using AI to transform boring assignments into engaging, personalized learning experiences for K-12 students Stephanie Frenel is building SchoolOps.AI ?? Aggregates quantitative and qualitative data, providing insights that makes school operations easier. Sean Wheelock is building Inner Peak AI (Techstars '24) ?? Leveraging AI to deliver personalized digital treatments for students battling anxiety and depression Florencia de Zavalia is building Zelmira ?? Empowering schools with adaptive tools focused on including students with specific learning difficulties (SLD) Learn more about these fellows and our latest cohort by visiting our fellow directory ?? https://lnkd.in/gvuFaZMt

Meet 4 Transcend Fellows (TF16) building D2C brands in Edtech From platforms streamlining academic success to music-driven language learning and emotional resilience tools, these founders are building cutting-edge, consumer-focused solutions to empower learners of all ages. Here are 4 such founders redefining the consumer learning space ?? Nijansh (Nish) Kothari is building Lingotune AI - Turns chart-topping hits into neuroscience-backed, AI-powered language learning modules that stick Iris(Mingruo) Q.) is building MathAstro - Duolingo for High School and College Math - Adaptive AI Tutoring Platform that helps you understand your weaknesses and builds custom daily study plans to speed up math learning Max H. is building 100 school - Helping ambitious professionals build irreplaceable careers in an AI-first world through daily 30-min skill workouts Neil Ruaro is building intellecs - All-in-one platform for studying - notes, ai assistance, and flashcards in one app You can learn more about these fellows and our latest cohort by visiting our fellow directory ??https://lnkd.in/gvuFaZMt

Transcend is the #3 most active edtech fund for new investments! ?? In the latest Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Market Report for FY 2024, the Transcend Fund was listed as the third most active edtech fund (new company investments) – tied with?GSV Ventures! This is a huge milestone for us and big step forward in realizing our mission of becoming the #1 first-check investor in the space! We're super proud we get to back visionary founders and play a small part in helping them achieve their goals. A huge thank you to our incredible partners, portfolio founders, and the Transcend Fellow community! ?? Learn more about the Transcend Fund (link in the comments ??)

Applications for the Transcend Fellowship close tonight! ?? We are assembling a cohort of 25-30 early-stage edtech founders who over 5 weeks will: 1?? run weekly PMF experiments to unlock growth and customer insights 2?? get 1:1 coaching from an exited founder in your specific sector (k-12, higher ed, corporate learning, etc.) 3?? get matched with successful mentors and work alongside peers at Founder Labs If this sounds like what you want to be doing this summer, submit your TF16 application ASAP! Link to apply ?? https://lnkd.in/dkXydVV4 We close applications tonight, February 21 @ 11:59 pm PST ??

Meet Prerna (Penny) Gupta. Penny is a TF5 Transcend Fellow. She is an experienced operator with a strong background in product development. Currently, she is the Head of Product (Education) at ErudiFi, a financial services platform that helps make education more accessible in Southeast Asia. Before this, Penny was building Doyobi alongside John Tan (TF3), a platform that offered online quests designed to help students aged 8-16 develop key 21st-century skills. Some features of Penny’s journey so far: ??Held positions at Microsoft and Save the Children Cambodia, focusing on product management and early childhood care initiatives. ??Product and Strategy Lead at Saturday Kids, designing and improving educational programs for children. ??Managed the growth of distribution centers for Ninja Van in Southeast Asia. Led market research, product optimization, and regional expansion efforts. Her cross-functional background in product, and business dev positions Penny as a leader in building learning solutions for global audiences. We are thrilled to have Penny as a PMF coach for the upcoming TF16 cohort and super excited for our fellows who will get to work alongside her! -- Today is the last day to apply for the Transcend Fellowship! If you wish to work alongside Penny, apply now to join the Transcend Fellowship and just let us know in the application! Link to apply ?? https://lnkd.in/dkXydVV4 Applications close today ?? Friday Feb 21 @ 11:59 pm PST! If you know any founders that this could be useful for, tag them in the comments below! ??

Meet Aditya Kulkarni. Aditya is a 3x founder and a Transcend Fellow (TF2). Over an entrepreneurial career spanning 10+ years, he has had 2 successful exits in education so far: 1?? Learning Outcomes – An assessment analytics company addressing remedial learning in schools. Acquired by Liga EduTech in 2015. 2?? BabyOnBoard – A platform for parents that captured milestones and health data of their children. Acquired by Roundglass in 2018. Most notably, Aditya recently co-founded and ran Stoa , a program that went on to become India's leading alternative to the traditional MBA. Alongside Raj Kunkolienkar (TF1), he built a 24-week program where he equipped aspiring professionals with the business acumen required to excel in high-growth startup roles. On LinkedIn, Aditya is most known for his #100DaysOfMBA series where he published practical business, management, and leadership concepts every day for a 100 days! His approach to building strong consumer brands and driving impact among learners has made him a key voice in the edtech space. We are super thrilled to have Aditya as a PMF coach for our upcoming TF16 cohort and excited for our consumer-facing founders who will get to work alongside him! -- PS: Applications to TF16 close this Friday Feb 21! If you wish to work alongside Aditya, apply now to join the Transcend Fellowship and just let us know in the application! Link to apply ?? https://lnkd.in/gJqaMgjW If you know any founders that this could be useful for, tag them in the comments below! ??

Introducing Transcend Fellowship’s Head PMF Coach! David Fu is a founder, ex-CEO and ex-banker, who has led product discovery, validation, and launch to product-market fit especially in education. He helps teams embrace the mess and ambiguity of innovation, change mgmt, pivoting and new product/business creation, including having done product validation, development or strategy work for Jobs for the Future (JFF), Diffusion Venture Studio, CNA Simulations , and Reforge. He's also an adjunct faculty at University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education in their Masters of Education Entrepreneurship program. In 2017, he co-founded of Streetlight Schools, a low-cost, innovative charter school network in South Africa. He has led growth for 4.0 Schools, and has helped the African Leadership Group grow their developer bootcamp & talent marketplace by 10X! As a PMF coach with Transcend, David has helped our founders execute 300+ customer experiments over 3 cohorts of the Transcend Fellowship! “What distinguishes founders who find product market fit (vs those who don’t), it's that they deeply understand and validate an existing pain point and behavior in the market… the best founders listen obsessively to their customers solving real problems before pushing their broader vision.“ We super glad to have David as our Head PMF coach for the upcoming TF16 cohort and thrilled for our fellows who will get to leverage his depth of experience in the space! — PS: Applications to TF16 close soon! If you wish to work alongside David, apply now to join the Transcend Fellowship and just let us know in the application! Link to apply ?? https://lnkd.in/gJqaMgjW If you know any founders that this could be useful for, tag them in the comments below! ??

MagicSchool AI led by Adeel Khan (TF11) has just announced it’s $45M Series B! ?? The leading generative AI tool in K-12 education, Denver-based MagicSchool has now partnered with more than 10,000 schools, with an educator using their AI tools in nearly every U.S. school district—and in 160 countries around the world! Since its launch, MagicSchool AI has found its way into educator workflows and is today used by millions of teachers as an AI assistant. Its suite of products supports teachers in planning lessons, writing tests, and producing other learning materials for their students. Following increased demand for custom AI tools, they recently launched MagicSchool Labs, a dedicated space for developing and testing new AI-driven tools for education. Their first project, a Data Analysis Tool, allows educators to gain insights from school data using natural language, driving more informed instruction. Their Series B round was led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Adobe Ventures, Atreides Management, LP, and Smash Capital. This funding will allow MagicSchool to expand their product and engineering teams, strengthen partnerships, grow their customer experience team, and continue innovating alongside educators. Along with this, they also aim to double down on their commitment to safety & responsibility. “As a lifelong educator, I have seen firsthand how schools struggle with limited resources. While AI cannot solve every challenge in education, we are committed to building tools that help bridge the gap. MagicSchool’s AI is already addressing significant needs in schools, such as differentiating instruction, supporting language learning, providing adaptive one-on-one tutoring, and offering just-in-time support for students.” - Adeel Khan We are super proud of Adeel and congratulate the team on this incredible milestone! ?? Learn more about Adeel's work here ?? MagicSchool AI