Dealflow | May 21, 2019

Upswing clinches $2 million to help underserved students navigate and complete university

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, May 21 – Private equity big shot Robert Smith changed the lives of Morehouse College’s latest graduating class with a promise to pay off their student loans. Edtech venture Upswing, meanwhile, has raised $2 million to help underserved students get to the graduation stage.

The Austin-based company works with universities and community colleges to improve student retention by extending on-campus services, like tutoring and advising, to their online student communities. It has 75 university partners—including 10% of historically black colleges in the U.S.—which serve more than 700,000 students.

Upswing’s latest funding round was backed by Impact America Fund, Rethink Education, Lumina Foundation and Strada. It previously raised $1.5 million from Lumina Impact Ventures, Stanford Graduate School of Business and Rethink Education, and was a 2017 Village Capital edtech cohort winner.