News

NewSchools Awards Entrepreneurs for Their Contributions to Public Education

Oakland, CA – May 10, 2013 – NewSchools Venture Fund (www.newschools.org), a venture philanthropy that supports education entrepreneurs to transform public education, announces the recipients of its 2013 Awards that recognize and celebrate the achievements of social innovators in its portfolio, working to improve K-12 public education in the United States. Since 2002, NewSchools has given more than 70 awards to outstanding entrepreneurs and organizations, most of whom are part of the organization’s portfolio. Read more

Zynga.org and NewSchools Venture Fund Announce Learning Games Accelerator: Zynga to lend social gaming expertise to education technology companies developing the next generation of learning games and apps

San Francisco, May 1, 2013 – Zynga.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to using social games for social good, today announced a partnership with NewSchools Venture Fund, a venture philanthropy that supports education entrepreneurs to transform public education, to create a new “ed tech” accelerator focused on enhancing the quality and reach of learning games and apps designed to improve education outcomes. Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ: ZNGA), the world’s leading provider of social game […] Read more

Forbes’ Top Education “Disruptors”

FORBES NAMES NEWSCHOOLS’ CEO TED MITCHELL AS ONE OF 15 EDUCATION INNOVATORS: Forbes Magazine has singled out NewSchools’ CEO Ted Mitchell on its list of 15 “education disruptors”—innovators who are making a difference, bringing new ideas that help to make education better. (Among the other honorees are two entrepreneurs in the NewSchools portfolio: Khan Academy founder Sal Khan, subject of the cover story; and Norman Atkins, who founded two ventures in our portfolio, Uncommon Schools and the Relay Graduate School of Education.) Read more

NewSchools Venture Fund Invests in Goalbook to Revolutionize Special Needs Education

Innovative platform enables everyone on the student’s team to collaborate and celebrate student progress.October 18, 2012—Oakland, CA— NewSchools Venture Fund today announced a $200,000 investment in Goalbook, the first social and mobile platform for special education teachers and administrators to manage student individual learning plans. The NewSchools investment leads a $915K Seed Round, which included Rethink Education, Ed-Mentor, Patient Capital Collaborative, Greg Gunn, Steve Shulman, and Joe Gleberman. The investment will be […] Read more

THE 3-MINUTE INTERVIEW: David Heiber

Heiber is founder and executive director of Concentric Educational Solutions, an organization that helps incorporate student support services in school systems in the District, Prince George’s County and other schools.…What prompted you to start this organization?I was the director of student support services at Cesar Chavez Public Charter School in D.C., and our funding partner there, NewSchools Venture Fund, they were looking for a way to improve student achievement and reduce suspensions. […] Read more

NBC News, CITI, and NewSchools Venture Fund to launch second-annual “CITI Innovation Challenge” at “Education Nation”

Young entrepreneurs put their education innovations to the test to win $100,000 prize and assistance making their venture a successNEW York, NY–Sept.18, 2012– NBC News, Citi and NewSchools Venture Fund announced today that they are launching the second-annual “Citi Innovation Challenge” at NBC News’ “Education Nation” Summit in hopes of helping the country understand the game-changing impact of education innovation in expanding opportunities for students.The “Citi Innovation Challenge” is a multi-day competition […] Read more

NewSchools Venture Fund Invests $200K in Learning Games Network to Expand Immersive Learning Games Market

Investment aims to spark the development of tools that educators can use to personalize learning for students Media Contact: Joe Ventura, NewSchools Venture Fund, jventura@newschools.org, 415-615-6862September 12, 2012—Oakland, CA—NewSchools Venture Fund today announced a $200,000 investment in Learning Games Network (LGN), the leading game-based learning research and development studio. The investment will support LGN in building the market for high-quality learning games through the design and development of games and related tools; and […] Read more

Mytonomy: New support for guidance counselors with investment from NewSchools Venture Fund

NewSchools Venture Fund does it again, investing in an awesome startup with big goals.Earlier this year, I covered Goalbook, an ed tech startup that was taking a drastically different approach to the development and usability of IEPs (Individual Educational Plans). The Web 2.0 application was unique in the market, but also noteworthy for the educational experience and savvy of the founder, an educator who shares my frustration with the generally miserable IEP process. […] Read more

Anticipating a Blended Classroom Boom Led by Education Startups

As kids head back to school this month and next, some will find a rather new arrangement greeting them: blended classrooms.These don’t feel like the ways that many of us attended class, with a single teacher lecturing at students from front and center (“Bueller?”). As it’s difficult–if not impossible–for cash-strapped schools to develop their own original learning products in house, startups are at the forefront of these changes. Thanks to many of […] Read more

Pandora For Ed Apps: eSpark Nabs $5.7M From 500 Startups, Others

Chicago-based startup eSpark Learning, which founder and CEO David Vinca describes as “Pandora for education apps,” has secured $5.7 million in series A financing from MK Capital, Learn Capital, NewSchools Venture Fund and 500 Startups to help fuel national expansion. The new capital brings the startup’s total funding to just under $7 million.In addition to its raise, eSpark is also announcing that it has hired 5-year Facebook veteran Luke Shepard as its new CTO. Shepard […] Read more