Reach Capital

Reach Capital is a Palo Alto-based venture capital firm established in 2015 that focuses on early-stage investments in the education technology sector. The firm targets startups developing technology solutions for various educational challenges, including early childhood, K-12, higher education, and lifelong learning. Reach Capital prefers to invest between $100,000 and $500,000 in seed rounds and $1 million or more in Series A or B rounds, typically acquiring stakes of 3% to 5% in seed investments and 8% to 10% in later-stage funding. By supporting promising entrepreneurs, Reach Capital aims to enhance educational opportunities for all children and acts as a catalyst to attract additional investment in the rapidly growing ed-tech market. The firm explicitly avoids investments in wearable devices and related applications for schools.

Jennifer Carolan

Co-Founder & Partner

Enzo Cavalie

Principal

Wayee Chu

Co-Founder & Partner

Jackie Dao

Chief Financial Officer

Shauntel Garvey

Co-Founder & Partner

Chian Gong

Partner

Jomayra Herrera

Partner

Wu Jennifer

Venture Partner

James Kim

Partner

Jim Lobdell

Venture Partner

Shauntel Poulson

General Partner

Esteban Sosnik

Co-Founder & Partner

Past deals in Education

PAPER

Series D in 2022
Improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness with the leading Educational Support System. Leading school districts make Paper part of their strategic plan. Whether you need to support a high ELL population, improve math/English proficiency, reduce teacher turnover, or address opportunity gaps in a diverse socio-economic community, Paper helps you reach your district goals. Educational Equity Like Never Before Paper is the first comprehensive Educational Support System (ESS) featuring live help and writing feedback for students paired with real-time feedback and intervention tools for teachers.

Outschool

Series D in 2021
Outschool operates an online platform that facilitates live, interactive learning experiences for children through classes taught by independent teachers. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, the platform connects parents, motivated learners, and educators, allowing families to discover and book a variety of online classes tailored to their interests. The platform caters to a diverse range of educators, including certified teachers and individuals with expertise in various fields. Outschool's model enables parents to select classes and teachers based on their children’s needs, thereby expanding educational opportunities in a cost-effective manner compared to traditional tutoring. The platform emphasizes community building by allowing parents to collaborate on activities and share experiences.

EveryDay Labs

Series A in 2021
EveryDay Labs, Inc. develops a toolkit that is designed to provide educators with insights, research, and strategies on how to partner with families so that every student has an equitable opportunity to learn. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Redwood City, California.

PAPER

Series C in 2021
Improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness with the leading Educational Support System. Leading school districts make Paper part of their strategic plan. Whether you need to support a high ELL population, improve math/English proficiency, reduce teacher turnover, or address opportunity gaps in a diverse socio-economic community, Paper helps you reach your district goals. Educational Equity Like Never Before Paper is the first comprehensive Educational Support System (ESS) featuring live help and writing feedback for students paired with real-time feedback and intervention tools for teachers.

Outschool

Series C in 2021
Outschool operates an online platform that facilitates live, interactive learning experiences for children through classes taught by independent teachers. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, the platform connects parents, motivated learners, and educators, allowing families to discover and book a variety of online classes tailored to their interests. The platform caters to a diverse range of educators, including certified teachers and individuals with expertise in various fields. Outschool's model enables parents to select classes and teachers based on their children’s needs, thereby expanding educational opportunities in a cost-effective manner compared to traditional tutoring. The platform emphasizes community building by allowing parents to collaborate on activities and share experiences.

PAPER

Funding Round in 2020
Improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness with the leading Educational Support System. Leading school districts make Paper part of their strategic plan. Whether you need to support a high ELL population, improve math/English proficiency, reduce teacher turnover, or address opportunity gaps in a diverse socio-economic community, Paper helps you reach your district goals. Educational Equity Like Never Before Paper is the first comprehensive Educational Support System (ESS) featuring live help and writing feedback for students paired with real-time feedback and intervention tools for teachers.

Sketchy

Series A in 2020
SketchyMedical is a online education company that helps students master complex concepts through fun and informative video sketches that enhance visual memory

Outschool

Series B in 2020
Outschool operates an online platform that facilitates live, interactive learning experiences for children through classes taught by independent teachers. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, the platform connects parents, motivated learners, and educators, allowing families to discover and book a variety of online classes tailored to their interests. The platform caters to a diverse range of educators, including certified teachers and individuals with expertise in various fields. Outschool's model enables parents to select classes and teachers based on their children’s needs, thereby expanding educational opportunities in a cost-effective manner compared to traditional tutoring. The platform emphasizes community building by allowing parents to collaborate on activities and share experiences.

Springboard

Series B in 2020
Springboard is an online learning platform that prepares students for the tech industry’s most sought after careers. With expert mentorship from top professionals, a bleeding-edge curriculum, and a network of support from day one, they make sure students have everything they need to excel in their program and in their next job. The platform one-size-fits-one approach is made for working professionals who are ready to level-up or make a major career shift. And our tuition back guarantee means students can take charge and invest in themselves. Springboard data science career track comes with a job guarantee, ensuring students secure a job within six months of graduation or get a full refund. The platform's self-paced courses offer students the opportunity to develop job-ready skills that they display in an industry-worthy capstone or portfolio projects.

EveryDay Labs

Venture Round in 2020
EveryDay Labs, Inc. develops a toolkit that is designed to provide educators with insights, research, and strategies on how to partner with families so that every student has an equitable opportunity to learn. The company was founded in 2015 and is based in Redwood City, California.

PAPER

Venture Round in 2020
Improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness with the leading Educational Support System. Leading school districts make Paper part of their strategic plan. Whether you need to support a high ELL population, improve math/English proficiency, reduce teacher turnover, or address opportunity gaps in a diverse socio-economic community, Paper helps you reach your district goals. Educational Equity Like Never Before Paper is the first comprehensive Educational Support System (ESS) featuring live help and writing feedback for students paired with real-time feedback and intervention tools for teachers.

Springboard

Series A in 2019
Springboard is an online learning platform that prepares students for the tech industry’s most sought after careers. With expert mentorship from top professionals, a bleeding-edge curriculum, and a network of support from day one, they make sure students have everything they need to excel in their program and in their next job. The platform one-size-fits-one approach is made for working professionals who are ready to level-up or make a major career shift. And our tuition back guarantee means students can take charge and invest in themselves. Springboard data science career track comes with a job guarantee, ensuring students secure a job within six months of graduation or get a full refund. The platform's self-paced courses offer students the opportunity to develop job-ready skills that they display in an industry-worthy capstone or portfolio projects.

Riipen

Seed Round in 2019
Riipen is an experiential education platform for universities and colleges so that their students graduate with the employable skills and industry connections that will get them relevant employment upon graduation. We connect faculty and students, inside and out of the classroom, to companies that want a more effective and engaging way to create brand awareness and recruit on campuses across the globe.

Outschool

Series A in 2019
Outschool operates an online platform that facilitates live, interactive learning experiences for children through classes taught by independent teachers. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, the platform connects parents, motivated learners, and educators, allowing families to discover and book a variety of online classes tailored to their interests. The platform caters to a diverse range of educators, including certified teachers and individuals with expertise in various fields. Outschool's model enables parents to select classes and teachers based on their children’s needs, thereby expanding educational opportunities in a cost-effective manner compared to traditional tutoring. The platform emphasizes community building by allowing parents to collaborate on activities and share experiences.

PAPER

Venture Round in 2019
Improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness with the leading Educational Support System. Leading school districts make Paper part of their strategic plan. Whether you need to support a high ELL population, improve math/English proficiency, reduce teacher turnover, or address opportunity gaps in a diverse socio-economic community, Paper helps you reach your district goals. Educational Equity Like Never Before Paper is the first comprehensive Educational Support System (ESS) featuring live help and writing feedback for students paired with real-time feedback and intervention tools for teachers.

BookNook

Seed Round in 2018
BookNook is combining technology and educational expertise to open the doors of literacy for students. They are a social enterprise with dual bottom line and a particular focus on supporting children in traditionally disenfranchised communities. Their founding team comes almost entirely from schools, nonprofits, social-good technology, and government. They believe that the best programs are designed by educators who have their roots in the classroom. Both their instructional strategy and their curriculum come from experienced educators who have seen first hand what works best for students. Their approach is grounded in multiple rigorous studies and they have assembled a team of nationally recognized experts who are both practitioners and researchers. They believe in scaling what works for students that technology is a great way to put proven instructional best practices in the hands of more and more people.

BetterLesson

Series B in 2017
BetterLesson, Inc. develops and offers a professional development platform for teachers. Its platform connects teachers to their personal coaches for setting professional development challenges and objectives, creating individualized learning plans, and making teaching strategies. It provides a searchable database to users to find lesson plans, classroom materials, and instructional resources from teachers; browse various documents, presentations, lessons, units, and courses; and share curriculum and connect with fellow educators. BetterLesson, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

BookNook

Seed Round in 2017
BookNook is combining technology and educational expertise to open the doors of literacy for students. They are a social enterprise with dual bottom line and a particular focus on supporting children in traditionally disenfranchised communities. Their founding team comes almost entirely from schools, nonprofits, social-good technology, and government. They believe that the best programs are designed by educators who have their roots in the classroom. Both their instructional strategy and their curriculum come from experienced educators who have seen first hand what works best for students. Their approach is grounded in multiple rigorous studies and they have assembled a team of nationally recognized experts who are both practitioners and researchers. They believe in scaling what works for students that technology is a great way to put proven instructional best practices in the hands of more and more people.

BetterLesson

Series A in 2016
BetterLesson, Inc. develops and offers a professional development platform for teachers. Its platform connects teachers to their personal coaches for setting professional development challenges and objectives, creating individualized learning plans, and making teaching strategies. It provides a searchable database to users to find lesson plans, classroom materials, and instructional resources from teachers; browse various documents, presentations, lessons, units, and courses; and share curriculum and connect with fellow educators. BetterLesson, Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

EdSurge

Series A in 2015
EdSurge is a prominent platform serving educators, entrepreneurs, and investors in the education technology sector. The organization offers a comprehensive database of edtech products and companies, along with daily news reporting focused on the education technology ecosystem. It provides independent reviews of education technology tools, assisting schools and colleges in selecting appropriate resources to enhance learning. In addition to its online presence, EdSurge hosts events such as the San Francisco education technology meetup and a series of nationwide summits, alongside the Digital Innovation in Learning Awards. The platform also features a jobs board and a service called Edtech Concierge, which supports education leaders in tool selection. Founded in 2011 and based in Burlingame, California, EdSurge operates as a hybrid of technology journalism, employing a mix of technologists, educators, and journalists, with the aim of fostering informed adoption of education technology through impartial reporting and community engagement.

eSpark

Series B in 2015
eSpark, Inc. is an educational technology company that develops iPad-based applications aimed at enhancing the learning experience for elementary school students. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Chicago, with an additional office in San Francisco, eSpark focuses on creating engaging tools that motivate students to write and provides differentiated instruction in mathematics and English Language Arts. The company's flagship product, eSpark, offers personalized learning services tailored to individual student needs. eSpark is committed to ensuring that all students, regardless of their backgrounds, have the opportunity to achieve their educational aspirations.

Nepris

Seed Round in 2014
Nepris Inc. operates a Web-based platform that connects teachers and industry professionals for making curriculum topics that are relevant to students. Its platform automatically matches the skills of an industry professional with that of a teacher’s request based on a curriculum topic or an activity; and enables an industry professional to virtually connect with a classroom for an interactive discussion with the students or to help evaluate projects in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The company was founded in 2013 and is based in Austin, Texas.