Congratulations to the Newest Ignite Cohort

  We’re thrilled to announce $1.5 million in funding to the 15 winners of the NewSchools Ignite Special Education Challenge. This cohort of entrepreneurs brings a diversity of ed tech solutions with potential to impact the more than 6.4 million students with disabilities in the U.S. K-12 education system. Congratulations to: BeeLine Reader Branching Minds […]

Announcing our NewSchools Invent 2017 Cohort…and the Fantastic Journey to Find Them  

Two years ago we launched NewSchools Invent. We wanted to invest in teams of educators who are reimagining learning, and looking to launch innovative public schools in school districts and charter networks. To create the future they want for themselves, we believe young people need a strong academic foundation along with other important mindsets, skills […]

Announcing the NewSchools Ignite Special Education Challenge

We’re excited to announce the NewSchools Ignite: Special Education Challenge, which opens today.  This challenge – the fourth in the NewSchools Ignite series – is open to entrepreneurs developing engaging, technology-enabled learning experiences, instructional content, assessments, administrative tools, and other digital products that support students with disabilities in Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade.  Applications are open […]

News Release – Got an Idea for an Ed Tech Tool to Support Special Education? NewSchools Ignite Might Fund it!

Contact: Debbie Veney   [email protected] | 415-375-8262 Elly Stolnitz   [email protected] | 415-371-6034   Announcing up to $1.5 million in new funding opportunities for ed tech entrepreneurs (Oakland, CA, February 16, 2017) — NewSchools Venture Fund is excited to announce the launch of its next ed tech funding opportunity: the NewSchools Ignite Special Education Challenge.  This challenge […]

Looking Back on 2016 – Check out Our Highlights Video!

By Mark Boone, Chief Development Officer This has been quite a year, and a very memorable one in many ways. Around the country, student voices became more prominent on a range of issues – academic, social and political. States began working on plans under a landmark new federal education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, […]

What Would You Do With $4 Billion?

  Now, I don’t want to name drop.  So, let’s just say a “well-known education philanthropist” posed a fascinating question to our CEO early this year.  He asked what she would do to improve education with about $400 million a year for the next 10 years.  Stated differently, he was asking what she would do […]

My Journey as an Ed Tech Entrepreneur — By Heather Hiles

Guest Post by Heather Hiles, Founder of Pathbrite I recently spent time with a cohort of ed tech entrepreneurs supported by NewSchools Venture Fund through their NewSchools Ignite accelerator.  My friends at NewSchools asked me and a couple of other entrepreneurs to spend some time having “real talk” about what it takes to raise capital, get exposure for […]

What I’m Thankful For — By Melissa Beck

In this season of Thanksgiving, I’m reminded of where I was three years ago at this time. I was a teacher, sitting in my 11th grade math classroom, just outside Atlanta. Red and yellow leaves fell from the trees outside my window, and I was feeling conflicted. On one hand, with Thanksgiving fast approaching, I […]

NewSchools Ignite Announces ELL Challenge Winners

Today, we are proud to announce the 13 winners of the NewSchools Ignite English Language Learning Challenge: eSpark Learning Flocabulary Listenwise Nearpod Newsela Quill.org Readworks Storyworld Spotlight Speak Agent Mawi Learning TalkingPoints ThinkCERCA We can’t wait to tell you about each of these companies … but first, let’s talk about how this challenge got started. […]

The People There in the Beginning: Why Investing in Diverse Leaders Matters

Guest Post by Aaron Walker, Founder/CEO of Camelback Ventures   “Always remember the people who were there in the beginning.” This advice was given to me more than three years ago when Camelback Ventures was just an incomplete idea.   Today, having touched the lives of more than 24 diverse entrepreneurs, I know I can never forget. […]