Transcend Network

Introducing 30 founders joining us as Transcend fellows for TF15! ?? Clement Townsend (Video Pro Learning): reimagining supplemental math through student video projects Uttarika Shetty (PlayQuakes): empowering early-childhood to deliver personalized, tech-driven learning plans Jacobo Buzali (Insight): helping educators integrate SEL into their every-day teaching Daniel Tobón García (Welbin): helps schools track & boost student well-being Navin Dutta (ProfileIQ): helps students and working execs assess and profile themselves to make better career decisions María Giménez (Wisdom): a game-and-evidence based app to help kids develop their social emotional skills Jonathan Chizick (SmartPath): a platform to help parents navigate the complexities of homeschooling Adrian Chernoff (Ojje): a K-12 literacy system powered by the art of stories Dr. Ashleigh Barnes (Unlock): empowering public schools to leverage data to drive their decisions Kuu Hagan (Pascal's Academy): an after-school marketplace offering academic support, enrichment activities, and PD Peter Nilsson (Athena Lab): a global department office for teachers and schools Felipe Izquierdo (Quest): interactive learning simulations for kids aged 8-12 James Kelly (Gamestories): an AI-powered reading platform where kids can create playable stories and boost reading skills Jeff Imrich (Rock by Rock): empowering students through real-world project-based learning Lulu Waters (Lexibl): a universal reading platform that is adaptive and helps you stay ahead of distractions Scott Kubly (Braide): an AI teaching assistant that saves teachers time and gives students timely, actionable feedback Katie Grayson (Phase Space): a VR platform delivering relief from stress and anxiety in minutes Ro Ren (Courseau): an AI-powered learning platform that helps companies deliver personalized learning Eduardo Moreira (GoAndSlay): a multi-platform solution helping employees upskill through language-based learning Louise (Kraft) Baigelman(Storyshares): reimagining adolescent literacy by providing a pathway to reading for all students Marc Steren (University Startups): an AI augmented curriculum tool that empowers under-resourced & special ed learners Ryan York (Willow Education): a post-secondary readiness platform that drives social & economic mobility for students Dan Sosa (Parsnip): AI-powered apps to make learning as fun as “leveling up” in a game Marlee Strawn (Scholar Education): an AI powered platform that helps you plan, teach, & reflect Hinrik Atlason (Atlas Primer): a voice learning platform where courses can be created, deployed and monetized in minutes Rashin M. Taheri (SciQuiry): personalizing science learning for every student Gilbert Ngaira (ntemata): saving teachers time in assessments and admin processes Nathan Stark M.Ed (FolioBridge): streamlining school admin tasks and teacher achievements Zhane Bennett (LexPal): helping language learners with a conversation practice pairing tool

Meet James Cryan, founder and CEO of Willow Education, PBC and a Transcend Fellow (TF10)! James has had 15+ years of experience building in education. A Teach For America alumnus, he began his career as an English teacher at the Denver Public Schools system, teaching 6th grade students from low-income communities in southwest Denver. James is also a 2x founder! In 2010, he founded Rocky Mountain Prep, a high-performing network of charter schools that serves 5000+ scholars in the state of Colorado. The schools he ran were recognized as some of the top-performing schools in Colorado and named many times to Denver's Top 100 Workplaces. Currently he is building Willow Education: a student-success platform that helps students explore?their strengths and purpose, careers, and quality, career-connected postsecondary education programs. While most college navigation tools only help students looking to navigate college, Willow works with forward-thinking counselors, teachers, and mentors who care about supporting ALL of their students in their postsecondary education journey, through both college and professional pathways. Their counselor platform recommendation engine is made for students to find the best quality colleges and professional post-secondary programs that are best suited for them. James and his team are on a mission to help 10 million students realize their full potential by choosing a best-fit, best-quality education next step by 2033. They realize that the path to meaningful work and livable wages is broken. With rising costs of student loan debt, uncertain ROI on a college education, and the growing need for skill-based training, James is building Willow Education to?create pathways for ALL students to pursue a good careers. We are super proud to have James as a Transcend Fellow and thrilled about the future of Willow Education! Learn more about James's work here ? Willow Education, PBC

8 Transcend Fellow startups were featured in Edtech Insiders Gen AI Map! Edtech Insiders today published a market map and database featuring 60+ use cases for GenAI in education and 300+ GenAI powered education tools. This map shares an at-a-glance snapshot of 6 categories and various use cases for AI in education, alongside leading tools that support each use case. Here are 8 startups that were featured along with the Transcend Fellows building them ?? Genius Academy by K Rocco Shields (TF10) ? on-demand experiential curriculum for online or on-ground classrooms. Strived.io by Shweta Gandhi (TF11) ? augmenting teacher decision making through the power of AI. Loper by Sam Bernstein (TF11) ? mobile college readiness platform for students and an enrollment marketing solution for?post-secondary institutions MagicSchool AI by Adeel Khan (TF11) ? fights educator burnout by providing them AI assistance and creates responsible and safe AI experiences for students to prepare them for the future of work. Pathfinder by Amaan Ahmad (TF13) ? for self-directed and project-based learning in microschools. ESAI by Julia Dixon (TF13) ? Affordable, ethical, high-quality AI tools for college applicants and beyond! Diffit for Teachers by Vlad Gutkovich ? helping teachers get "just right" student learning resources in seconds. CoGrader by Gil Quadros Flores (TF12) & Vitor Barbosa (TF13) ? help teachers spend less time grading and more time teaching the kids. Link to the full Edtech Insiders GenAI Map is in the comments ??

ESAI led by Julia Dixon (TF13) has raised $1.25M in pre-seed funding! ESAI hosts a suite of AI tools aimed at providing ethical, high-quality support for college applicants. The company is on a mission to automate the historically expensive college advising experience with narrative-building tools that make higher education and professional opportunities more accessible for students of all backgrounds and resources. So far, the platform has supported 100,000+ college applicants and are reaching millions looking to craft their personal narrative when applying to college! ESAI recently participated in betaworks AI Camp, working alongside other companies building AI-native solutions reimagining the future. Their $1.25M pre-seed round saw participation from betaworks, Precursor Ventures, Next Wave NYC, FullCircle, Chasing Rainbows, and more! Join us in congratulating Julia and team ESAI on achieving this incredible milestone! ??

Meet Sonny Li, Founder & Chief Vibes Officer at Codédex, and a Transcend Fellow (TF11)! Sonny began his career as an educator, teaching programming at Columbia University, New York University, and Lehman College in NYC. He later went on to work as a curriculum developer and manager at Codecademy for five years and was a founding fellow with On Deck (ODF) before starting his journey as a founder. Currently, Sonny is building Codédex: the most fun way for Gen Z to learn tech skills! The platform offers courses in Python, HTML/CSS, JS, React, SQL, AI, Git & GitHub, and Command Line, and encourages learners to practice with projects alongside a vibrant coding community. The platform has been trusted by learners from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Deloitte, Uber Eats, Spotify, CSforALL, and SpaceX! Codédex not only teaches programming skills but also makes the learning process enjoyable. Users get to engage in real-world projects, from generating AI images to hacking a smart fridge, with a catalog created by educators and engineers globally! On top of a thriving platform, Sonny and his team have built a unique community where learners get to discuss tech, seek help, make friends, and network with their peers. They are passionate about the work they do and facilitate some of the best hackathons for their students. They also run a podcast called 'Boba Talk’ where they discuss coding and all things tech. With a deep-rooted passion for teaching and education, Sonny is transforming the way Gen Z students learn to code. We are super proud to have Sonny as a Transcend Fellow and thrilled about the future Codédex is building! ?? Learn more about Sonny's work here: ? Codédex

It is the last day to apply for the Transcend Fellowship! ?? Over 5 weeks, 30 early-stage edtech founders will: 1?? run weekly PMF experiments to unlock growth and customer insights 2?? get 1:1 coaching from an exited founder in their specific sector (k-12, higher ed, corporate learning, etc.) 3?? get matched with 4 successful mentors in our network (founders, angel investors and customers) ...all with the goal to help you and your company inch closer to product-market fit! ?? If this sounds like what you want to be involved doing as 2025 approaches, submit your application today to be a part of our TF14 cohort! (link to apply is in the comment ?? ) We close applications October 23 @ 11:59 pm PST ??

Introducing our K-12 Educator-Product Advisors! ?? Teachers are some of the most important stakeholders in the K-12 ecosystem. They enable edtech implementation in schools (whether the tool is learner-facing or educator-facing), and are the ones driving change for students day to day. Unfortunately, edtech startups often struggle to involve teachers early enough in the development process, leading to misaligned expectations and empty promises of disruption, but without real teacher support or adoption. We want to address this problem by involving teachers as co-designers, not mere users. Hence, we want to introduce you to our K-12 Educator-Product Advisor Network! These are educators with years of experience as teachers and admin at schools around the world! We first introduced them to our K-12 fellows in early 2024, and we are excited to continue this initiative for our upcoming TF15 cohort. A huge thank you to Alissa McDonald, co-founder of PopPD (and a Transcend Fellow herself!) who has helped put this advisory network together and is our program partner for this initiative! Every Transcend Fellow building in K-12 will have a 1:1 meeting with an educator advisor, and receive personalized, ISTE standards-aligned feedback on their product usability, communication and value proposition! Here are some of our k-12 educator-product advisors and how they individually support edtech founders! ?? Brittany Blackwell, M.Ed.- Host of the Resilient Teacher Podcast ?? Helps founders with effective communication strategies to enable product-led growth with K12 Teachers Khristen Massic - School District Leader ?? Helps career and technical education (CTE) teachers get more done during the school day. Amy Roadman - PA Certified Art Teacher ?? Focused on enhancing art education through innovative curriculum development and tech integration Taleen Stevens, M.Ed. - Reading Specialist and Instructional ELA Coach ??Host of The Learning Curve- Education Conversations Podcast. Helps founders run a test-bed network with project-based schools Ben Schoenebeck - Elementary Educator ?? Helps founders explore the differences between high-needs and high-performing schools Lisa McHargue- Teacher & Digital Organizer ?? Supports founders building digital organization products Julia Cafaro - Curriculum Designer and Instructional Coach ?? Founder of Around the World With Mrs. C. Focused on empowering secondary English educators with diverse world literature curriculum Rajalique McCowin, M.Ed - Founder of Lone Star Tutor ?? Focused on blending learning with gaming, and creating microschools for neurodivergent learners. Gabriella Volpe, B.Ed. - Educational Accessibility and Inclusion Consultant ?? Focused on Neurodiversity, UDL, AAC, and game-based learning. We’re looking forward to working with these awesome folks for our upcoming TF15 cohort! ??

We are extending our deadline to apply to October 23! ?? Today is technically the last day to apply to the Transcend Fellowship's TF15 cohort. However, we are keeping applications open for anyone who gets a referral from a Transcend Fellow or a friend of Transcend! If you are a founder building in edtech or the future of work and are looking to: 1?? Run weekly PMF experiments to finetune your product positioning and value props 2?? Get 1:1 coaching from an exited founder in your specific sector (k-12, higher ed, corp learning, etc.) 3?? Get connected with edtech veteran founders & investors in our network through mentorships then apply to the Transcend Fellowship asap! If you don't know anyone who can refer you, dm us directly and we'll share next steps! Over the coming week, we will be reviewing submitted applications and ask select founders to schedule a 1:1 working session with us. Since these slots are limited, we encourage you to apply asap! PS: If you know someone who may be a good fit, tag them in the comments or introduce them to us via dms!

Meet Benedek Hermán, founder and CEO of Voovo, and a Transcend Fellow (TF14)! Benedek is an ex-medical student and experienced product developer. Currently he is building Voovo, a tool reimagining how students absorb knowledge. Voovo utilizes scientifically proven techniques such as Active Recall and Spaced Repetition, primarily associated with digital flashcards and quizzes, to enhance student learning experiences. Benedek and his team noticed that while high-achieving students often leverage these methods, many lower-performing students miss out on their benefits. To address this gap, they have launched Voovo for Classrooms, an initiative designed to make these learning techniques accessible to all students. In collaboration with Semmelweis University, Hungary's largest medical school, Voovo has successfully launched its pilot program, where over 92% of students engage with flashcards and quizzes daily, thus implementing spaced repetition into the education system. Voovo is looking for more universities to start pilots and potential edtech companies in the higher-ed spave who would be interested to partner. “By integrating Voovo into entire university systems, we aim to provide valuable learning tools to those who need them the most” - Benedek Hermán. Recently, Benedek and his team raised a $500K pre-seed funding round! The company is also backed by the prestigious Techstars accelerator program, was a Top 10 finalist at the ReflectX Startup Competition, won the 2023 Hungarian Startup Innovation Award, and qualified as a finalist in the EU-Startups Summit Pitch Competition! “This investment allows us to accelerate our mission of revolutionizing education by integrating spaced repetition and microlearning into the education system.” - Team Voovo We are super glad to have Benedek as a Transcend Fellow and thrilled about the future of Voovo! Learn more about Benedek's work here: ? Voovo

We are closing applications for the Transcend Network TF15 Fellowship very soon! ?? Bad news ??: the official deadline is tomorrow Good news ???: we added a deadline extension until next Wednesday (Oct 23) for anyone who gets a referral from a Transcend Fellow or friend of Transcend (dm me if you don't know anyone to refer you!) If you are an edtech or future of founder looking to... - Finetune your product positioning and value prop - Go from your first customers to 10 - Raise your first round of funding - Get connected in the edtech space ... then the Fellowship may be a good fit for you! We select 30 founders for our equity-free program and put them through an immersive program that includes cohort-wide workshops, 1:1 coaching and personalized access to the Transcend founders and network. If you know someone who may be a good fit, please tag them in the comments or introduce them to us via email, and we'll be happy to grant them the extension + chat with them 1:1 to explore if the program is a good fit!