NYU Edtech Hyper Accelerator Program July 2018
in partnership with StartEd
We are proud to host our NYU Edtech Hyper Accelerator program powered by VentureOut and StartEd! The Hyper Accelerator will focus on connecting the best up and coming EdTech startups to New York's finest and most respected members of the startup and technology communities.
Thank you for participating in our program. We are forward to showing you how awesome New York can be!
Schedule
Exact times and locations for the sessions of this program are available to confirmed participants and program partners only, upon entering an access code.
VentureOut 101 & Orientation
Session 1
NY Tech Ecosystem Introduction
Session 2
Fundraising & Finance
Session 3
Fundamentals of Scaling & Raising Capital
Session 4
Digital Marketing & Growth Hacking
Session 5
Enterprise Sales & Channel Partnership
Session 6
Mentoring & Pitch Prep
Session 7
Pitch Practice Happy Hour
Session 8
Introduction to NYC EdTech Ecosystem
Edtech Investor Talk
EdTech CEO Talk
StartEd Talk
Session 4
Mentor Madness
Session 5
School System Innovators Panel & Reception
US Expansion Panel
Session 1
Edtech Founder Panel
Corporate Learning
Noodle Partners & Enterprise Marketing
Pitch Night
Final Presentations
Exit Interviews
Speakers & Mentors
Marcos Dinnerstein
Executive Council Member
NYVC
Marcos Dinnerstein is Executive Council Member at NYVC
After being an editor at Digital.com, Marcos is now an Executive Council Member at New York Venture Council, with experience at establishing processes and continually improving them. He is an effective Product Management team member, possessing a ‘Figure it out and get it done’ attitude. New York Venture Council members are leading NYC-area venture capitalists, family offices, angels, entrepreneurs, universities, media and professional advisors, all dedicated to increasing deal flow and ecosystem cooperation in the world's financial capital.
http://www.GONYVC.COMAsh Kaluarachchi
Co-Founder
Started
Ash is the director of StartEd Accelerator (previously known as EDGE EdTech). With 10+ years experience advising and building partnerships for organizations solving problems in education, Ash is passionate about applying technology to solve challenges in education, finance, and machine intelligence.
www.startedaccelerator.comPaul Bianco
CEO
Graphite Financial
Paul founded Graphite Financial, as an internal service for (nearly 50%) of Venture Capital’s ("ffVC") portfolio of early-stage technology companies since 2008. In 2016, while continuing to serve ffVC's portfolio, Paul oversaw Graphite Financial's transition to operating as an independent company to serve the broader startup community.
He is an expert in helping startups and other young ventures with strategy, financial modeling, fully outsourced or augmented bookkeeping & accounting, tax, compliance and interim CFO work.
http://www.graphitefinancial.comRob Aronson
Co-Founder
EdTech Advisory Group
Rob is a digital sales executive with extensive background in creating mutually rewarding business development, publisher & media partnerships, Rob's focus has been on leveraging emerging technologies to provide software. Rob has delivered monetization solutions during his 25 years of successful selling, team building and strategic planning. An expert in reaching millennials, Rob has a history of making the needle move for his clients. Together with the partners at ETAG, he can teach teams "how to fish ...or catch the fish for them."
The EdTech Advisory Group is a partnership of EdTech career professionals dedicated to the betterment of student outcomes and providing companies who deliver platforms that drive academic success: access, guidance & strategic business services.
http://www.edtechadvisorygroup.comAdam D. Fried
District Superintendent
Edtech Speaker/Presenter
Adam has positioned himself as an innovations leader - embracing and encouraging the development of educational technologies. He is deeply committed to improving learning experiences through radical learning culture transformation. As a pedagogical leader, district superintendent, college instructor, and noted speaker and presenter, Adam has received numerous awards for his creativity and innovation. He serves on several academic boards and is deeply passionate about mentoring EdTech startups in their development process. Adam also has international recognition as a speaker and presenter, along with numerous education and technology publication credits to his name, including conferences and webinars.
Donna Murdoch
Head of Learning Technology & Innovation
S&P Global Ratings
Donna leads a global team developing innovative learning and talent development solutions across practices and functions at S&P Global Ratings. She develops and executes learning programs for a "people first" digital transformation strategy.
Donna is a global learning and talent development leader with over 15 years of experience driving innovation programs in the workplace, specializing in digital transformation, learning, and adoption using new methods, modalities, and a foundation of adult learning and leadership theory. She applies research and experience to application and practice in a variety of contexts including consulting, NGOs, healthcare, academia, and finance.
Becky Krill
Marketing Director
Noodle Partners
Data-driven B2B SaaS marketing leader equipped with the broad, yet critical range of skills required of the demand function. From competitive positioning and content strategy to PPC and CRO, there’s not much I haven’t done when it comes to the digital marketing landscape.
A power-user of a growing list of software solutions, I keep my finger on the pulse of new technologies that offer deeper levels of automation, optimization, and organizational efficiency. I've never been shy about my love of software and have pioneered many expensive software purchases and implementations over the years. For this reason, I’m quite familiar with the B2B software buying process and persona overall.
Michelle Dervan
Principal
ReThink Education Fund
Michelle Dervan is a Principal at ReThink Education, a venture capital firm focused on education technology.
Prior to joining Rethink Education, Michelle was a Director of Strategic Partnerships at Pearson Education where she focused on sourcing and structuring partnership deals with large and small tech companies. She previously held a number of education, edtech and economic development roles at Irish government agency, Enterprise Ireland. She is actively interested in education policy and workforce development initiatives. She volunteers as an Organizer of the NYEdtech Meetup, as a Mentor with YearUp and serves as a NextGen Board Member of NY Collaborates for Autism, a nonprofit that designs innovative programs to improve the lives of people living with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
http://rethink.vcAndrew Cohen
Founder & CEO
Brainscape
Andrew is a metrics-obsessed executive and investor focused on high growth opportunities and network effects. Currently, Andrew is the CEO of Brainscape, a web & mobile education platform that is optimizing the learning process for millions of students and professionals.
Beginning as an Excel spreadsheet in a cognitive science lab at Columbia University, where Andrew received his Master's degree in Educational Technology, Brainscape has since evolved into a robust web & mobile learning ecosystem. Millions of people around the world are now using Brainscape to dramatically amplify their study results.
Sam Caucci
Founder & CEO
1HUDDLE
I'm the Founder & CEO of 1HUDDLE. I have a firm belief that everybody that works hard deserves access to great training.
Our product is helping companies across the globe to make training more fun, effective and accessible for their entire workforce.
1HUDDLE (formerly Sales Huddle), is a workforce training platform that's getting people ready to work using quick-burst games. Leading the charge to help organizations, across the globe, better prepare their people for the workforce. Clients across multiple sectors including professional sports teams, politics/government, hospitality, retail, automotive, college/universities, and more.
Featured on CNN, Fox News, CNBC, SKY News, The Huffington Post, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal.
Clients include: ESPN, Audible (an Amazon Company), Hyundai, Madison Square Garden, City of Newark, and more.
We are proud to be supported by some of the world's best VC's and investors, including 500 Startups and Newark Venture Partners.
Josh Rochlin
CEO
Teckst
Josh Rochlin was an early pioneer in the New York Internet venture community, founding MyCalendar.com and serving as its CEO before selling it to Sports Huddle in 2001 (now owned by CBS).
Josh then led business development and strategy at GoAmerica (GOAM), the first wireless internet service provider (now Purple Communications). Prior to IBM's acquisition of Teckst (formerly Xtify), Josh served as its founding CEO. Prior to joining Teckst, Josh served as the Chief Administrative Officer at Marc Ecko Enterprises, where he oversaw all non-apparel businesses and ventures.
www.teckst.comJonathan Harber
Chairman
StartEd
Until 2014, Harber served as CEO of Pearson K12 Technology. Harber was the CEO and co-founder of Schoolnet, Inc., a company that helped school systems use data and assessment to increase academic achievement. Schoolnet was acquired by Pearson in 2011. Prior to Schoolnet, Harber lead two other edtech companies from founding to acquisition. Harber runs Harber Advisors, LLC, advising private equity funds and education companies on education-related transactions.
For over 25 years, Jonathan D. Harber had been a pioneer in education innovation. As a successful entrepreneur and now a board member, consultant, mentor, and professor, he works to advance innovation in the field.
Aanand Radia
Managing Director
University Ventures
Aanand Radia is a Managing Director at UV. Prior to UV, Aanand was a private equity investor at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, where he focused on Financial Services and Special Situations. Prior to BlackRock, Aanand worked at EdisonLearning (formerly Edison Schools), an early pioneer in the charter school movement and later a diversified K-12 education technology and services company, where he focused on corporate strategy, business development, and new product and finance initiatives. While at Edison, Aanand helped to develop an alternative education product offering delivered through a hybrid/blended learning environment. Aanand started his career at Patriot Capital, a middle market private equity firm, where he made investments across a broad range of industries. Aanand received his B.S. in Economics from Carnegie Mellon University.
Aanand focuses on opportunities in student finance and education to employment pathways. Aanand leads or has co-led the firm’s investments in Galvanize, Revature, Avenica, PrepMD, Vemo Education, as well as a number of the firm’s seed investments including ParagonOne, DesignLab, Shortlist, CareAcademy, Mpower, Meritize.
http://universityventures.comJason Palmer
General Partner
New Markets Venture Partners
Jason Palmer is General Partner at New Markets Venture Partners, one of the nation’s leading education-focused venture capital firms. As a double-bottom line investor, New Markets focuses on innovative, high impact, early and growth stage edtech companies that improve student outcomes while building profitable organizations.
Jason has been affiliated with New Markets since 2011 and became a General Partner in 2016 after three years at the Gates Foundation. Jason brings twenty years of experience as an education technology entrepreneur, executive, and investor, and focuses on fund strategy, supporting portfolio companies and leveraging deep connections with industry leaders.
Jason holds a B.A. in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and also serves on the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education Foundation Board.
http://newmarketsvp.comOmar Darwazah
Founder & General Partner
Arab Angel Fund
Omar is a seasoned finance professional with over 13 years of international experience in corporate finance, investor relations, strategy, business development, private equity and venture capital. He is currently the Founder and General Partner at Arab Angel Fund, an early stage venture capital firm focused on "Seed" and "Series A" investment opportunities with companies that have international expansion potential.
Omar also has a strong entrepreneurial drive, having co-founded a food & beverage startup, a boutique financial services advisory firm and an early stage technology-focused venture capital fund.
http://arabangel.vcKate Eberle Walker
Board Member
Brooklyn Prospect Charter School
Kate Eberle Walker is an Education CEO/Investor/Advisor, and for two years was CEO of The Princeton Review, a leading provider of tutoring, test prep and admissions services. Kate is very active in mentoring and supporting early stage edtech companies, and she also supports non-profit education initiatives through her work with the International School of Brooklyn and The Morgan Moses Foundation. Prior to TPR, Kate spent 8 years at Kaplan, where she managed M&A and investments, including the creation of the Kaplan-Techstars Edtech Accelerator. Kate holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is based in New York, where she lives with her husband and two daughters.
www.brooklynprospect.orgNoelle Millholt
Co-Founder & CRO
Homer
As Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer, Noelle oversees all of Homer’s business development opportunities in the US and internationally as well as institutional sales. Prior to Homer, Noelle was the COO of Speakaboos, where she was responsible for the company’s content and product strategy, building one of the fastest growing catalogs of interactive picture books through partnerships with major publishers and growing Speakaboos into one of the highest- ranking kids apps. Noelle began her career at the American Museum of Natural History, where she managed the Museum’s Corporate Patron Program and developed children’s programming in partnership with corporate sponsors for programs including the Science & Nature Program and Mobile Museums for young children. Noelle believes early childhood education and the environment are the two most critical issues facing our world. She is the Founder of NYC Taps In, a campaign dedicated to banning the use of single-use plastics in New York City. Noelle is a graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University where she was a John Carroll Scholar.
learnwithhomer.comKevin McAliley
President
Veritas Strategies
Kevin McAliley is passionate about building teams that grow innovative educational companies whose high quality but inexpensive products significantly improve student learning outcomes.
He is currently the President at Veritas Strategies. Their mission is to get to know and understand their clients need, wants, and long-term goals. They want to help them develop, implement, and monitor a strategy that's designed to address their individual situation.
Kevin has a Bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics, English, and American literature from Harvard University, before graduating from Columbia University with an MBA.
http://www.veritasstrategies.com/p/mission-statementSteve Kupfer
Managing Director
Red House
Steve is the Founder and Managing Director of Red House Education. He has ten years of experience partnering with urban school systems as an executive and consultant in technology and human capital, with expertise in professional development, strategy, organizational development, program management, and executive search.
Most recently, Steve supported a national effort to improve the size and quality of the pipeline for superintendents and school system executives. He has co-led workshops on transition planning, board governance, political mapping, budget management, bond initiatives, collective bargaining, organizational development, media relations, and community engagement with some of the nation's most forward-thinking superintendents and CEOs.
Steve has collaborated with state education departments, school boards, foundations and elected officials to attract new leadership while advising dozens of newly hired superintendents and senior cabinet members on transition planning, reorganization, governance, and private partnerships.
http://www.redhouse.nycScott Brooks
VP of Corporate Development
Agile Education Marketing
Over the course of his more than 25-year career, Scott has developed an extensive knowledge of sales, marketing, and business and corporate development in the areas of consulting, business intelligence, cloud computing, SaaS, IT outsourcing, and data.
Scott has held a number of leadership positions within organizations focused primarily on marketing data software and information technologies. Formerly Vice President of Corporate Business Development at Critigen and then Managing Director at Afferion, his career began in the database products area within IBM Labs.
He also has experience building software and services organizations from the ground up. As an entrepreneur, Scott launched and sold a successful software company to IBM, built and ran software and services practices and served as a key member of leadership for several tech data companies. Scott earned his degree in Computer and Information Sciences and Support from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.
http://www.agile-ed.comShubh Anand
Analyst
City Light Capital
Shubh Anand is interested in learning about technologies making the world smarter, safer and more sustainable. He is currently an Analyst for City Light Capital. Driven to solve today’s most pressing social problems, City Light Capital leverages the powerful concept of Investing Forward to generate both strong financial returns and measurable social impact.
http://www.citylightcap.comRohan Wadhwa
Associate
Exceed Capital Partners
Rohan is an Associate at Exceed Capital. He brings deep education sector knowledge and transaction experience to the team.
Prior to Exceed, Rohan was a founding member of Oliver Wyman’s Education Practice. He led teams in advising education and edtech companies on growth strategy and worked closely with investors in evaluating growth investments and buyout transactions in the sector. During his time at Oliver Wyman, Rohan worked on 14 education sector transactions, including over half of the top 10 global education deals. Previously, Rohan founded and subsequently sold a higher education exam preparation company in Canada.
Rohan has worked with TED-Prize winner Sugata Mitra on scaling his School in the Cloud platform around the world. He also sits on the advisory board of KIPP NYC, one of the largest charter school networks in the US.
Rohan holds a Bachelor’s of Commerce from the Queen’s School of Business in Canada.
http://exceedcapital.globalJames Tieng
Managing Director
Exceed Capital Partners
James Tieng is a Managing Director and co-founder of Exceed Capital. He is a member of the Investment Committee.
With over 12 years of investing experience, James has led and completed 14 platform transactions (majority and minority deals), having deployed over $1.5 billion of equity in education, software, business services, and digital media companies. His investments have ranged in enterprise value from less than $10 million to over $1 billion. James has served as a member of the Board of Directors for 10 public and private companies.
Prior to joining Exceed, James was a Principal at Quad Partners, a private equity firm focused exclusively on the education sector. Previously, he was with Apax Partners, where he focused on financial, business and digital services investments around the world. Prior to Apax, James was an investment professional at Irving Place Capital. He began his career at McKinsey & Company, where he worked on strategy, M&A and corporate finance engagements across a variety of industries.
James received an MBA from Harvard Business School and earned an AB in Economics from Princeton University with certificates in Finance and Political Economy.
http://exceedcapital.globalNikki Evans
Director, Office of Workforce Partnerships
City University of New York
Nikki is responsible for developing and overseeing an engagement strategy that will expand and deepen CUNY's relationship with local industry.
She serves as a bridge between business and CUNY's workforce and academic programs to help ensure CUNY's students are gaining the right mix of classroom and practical learning experiences necessary to keep them competitive in the NYC job market.
http://www2.cuny.eduClay Shirky
Vice Provost for Educational Technologies
NYU
Clay Shirky is Vice Provost for Educational Technologies. In this role, he designs, develops, and enhances all academic aspects of technology-based teaching and learning, University-wide; oversees the development of NYU’s instructional technology strategy, working with deans, faculty, NYU IT, and other university offices; maintains an inventory of online education offerings; and helps schools use educational technology to recruit new students, help existing students learn and progress, and generate costs savings or new revenues. He chairs the University’s Future of Technology-Enhanced Education Committee.
www.nyu.edu/about/leadership-university-administration/office-of-the-president/office-of-the-provost/academic-affairs/clay-shirky.htmlDani Pascarella
Founder & CEO
Invided
Prior to founding Invibed, Dani became a stockbroker at age 20 while attending University of Florida and worked at CNBC on the show Mad Money with Jim Cramer. She went on to work as an Investment Specialist at J.P. Morgan, where she managed money for individuals with at least $25 million in investable assets. Dani also holds an M.S. from Columbia University and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™.
Invibed is part of the NYU Steinhardt EdTech Accelerator powered by StartEd's 2017 Cohort, also participated in Startup Next (powered by Techstars and Google for Entrepreneurs) and Project Entrepreneur (powered by Rent The Runway and UBS)
invibed.comAlex Rappaport
Co-founder & CEO
Flocabulary
Since co-founding Flocabulary in 2004, Alex has been responsible for defining the company's strategic vision and building the business from the ground up. A musician by training, Alex has bootstrapped Flocabulary into a rapidly-growing, mission-driven edtech company that now reaches millions of students.
Named one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business in 2018, Alex is a regular author and speaker on education and entrepreneurship. His articles have appeared in The Hill, Entrepreneur and EdSurge, and he has spoken at conferences and events including Smart Cities, Creative Mornings, TedX and The Yidan Prize Summit in Hong Kong. Alex is a member of the Nationswell Council and has served as a mentor for 4.0 Schools and the StartEd Accelerator. He is also the creator of Big Idea Week, a community-driven entrepreneurship program for elementary and middle schools. Alex graduated from Tufts University and lives in Brooklyn, NY.
www.flocabulary.comAaron Cohn
Partner
Quiet Ventures
Aaron is a partner at Quiet Ventures, who design useful products worth talking about and build apps for fellow founders who are almost ready to quit their day jobs.
Aaron has a lot of experience and has built: a slackbot to make teams more fulfilled at work; an SMS-based laundry startup that sends you puppy pictures; Founders Friday, a weekly meetup and community; the NYC Salon, a bi-weekly "TED, with friends"; and The Annual "Friends Rent a Ski Mountain" event, where 125+ friends rent a mountain in Upstate NY.
www.quietventures.comSheila Narayanan
President
Vulcan Consultants
As a strategy and product expert, Sheila is currently serving clients across a spectrum of industries, ranging from education to technology platforms.
From Financial Services to Girl Scout Digital Cookies, she has led the transformation of businesses by delivering digital and data-driven offerings to market. I have a record of scaling innovation into commercially viable businesses, in both the financial services data and non-profit worlds.
Sheila is also very passionate about empowering Girls in STEM. In 2015, she launched an annual event, engaging corporations in providing 200+ girls (age 9-13_ hands-on fun with engineering and tech activities. She also launched the first corporate Girls Who Code Club at MasterCard which trained 200 girls across 5 MasterCard offices.
vulcanconsultants.comLexie Kier
Principal Strategist and CEO
The AOK Group
Lexie Kier is a Principal Strategist and Founder of AOK Group, a growth consultancy for startups. She advises bold brands and startups on fundraising, customer insights, branding and marketing and often takes on interim leadership roles to help with periods of intense change, entry into new markets, and expansion.
Previously, Lexie founded Cuurio, an index of startups and innovation platform helping bold brands find clarity, context, and connection. Cuurio helped a growing number of innovative brands and agencies (including Warner Brother, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal, and J. Walter Thompson) to create vibrant native mobile partnerships that activated consumers in new channels.
http://theaokgroup.comPhilip Delvecchio
Program Director
VentureOut
Brian Frumberg
CEO & Founder
VentureOut
Brian is the CEO and founder of VentureOut, which he launched in 2012 while working at Gotham Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund. He started VentureOut as a vehicle to help bridge the gap between the innovators around the world and the opportunities available to them in the New York and San Francisco technology ecosystems.
Brian is also a proud advocate of the New York City's vibrant technology community, a role he plays as a speaker, a mentor, on the Board of Directors of the NYC Innovation Collective, Founding Member of NYC Tech International, a member of the FWD.us Innovation Council and as the Founder of the Chaminade Alumni Entrepreneurs Association.
Prior to VentureOut, Brian’s career has spanned venture, at Gotham Ventures, consulting, supporting early-stage tech startups in NYC, business development, at OTR Global, and sales, as the youngest institutional salesperson globally at Standard & Poor's. Brian received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Richmond.
https://www.ventureoutny.comEdwin Plotts
Director of Growth
Ladder.io
Edwin is the Director of Growth at Ladder.io, a growth technology and services agency that uses proprietary technology and data-driven strategy to increase your ROI.
Edwin grows businesses with impactful analysis + tech-infused creativity, as an ROI-Driven Growth Strategy Architect and Director, Transforming Performance Marketing Into Systemized Solutions/Processes.
ladder.ioMatt Listro
Co-Founder & Partner
Harbinger Strategy
Matt Listro brings extensive experience in business development and sales. Prior to founding Harbinger, he helped build the business development and strategy team at Crowdtap, a venture-backed brand content platform that’s consistently recognized by Inc., Fortune, and others as one of the fastest growing firms in America. Matt brought on and managed partnerships with 50+ top brands including GE, J&J, P&G, Sony Pictures, and Kraft.
Prior to Crowdtap, he managed business development initiatives for MAXIMUS, a publicly-traded program management and consulting firm, helping MAXIMUS expand into Europe. Matt also teaches at General Assembly. He graduated from Brown University and Columbia Business School with Dean’s Honors.
Robert Napoli
Managing Consultant
Michael Page
Robert joined Michael Page as their Senior Recruitment Consultant in 2017 before he was promoted to his current role as Managing Consultant of their Sales & Marketing division. In addition to working at Michael Page he is the Executive Consultant of Global Sales and Strategy at Beast Technologies. Prior to that he served as the Chief Business Development Officer of Beast Technologies, and the Client Relationships Director of Kforce.
Robert is an experienced professional with 6+ years B2B and B2C sector with a heavy focus on B2B Marketing and Sales. He graduated with a Masters in International Marketing Management from MIP Politecnico di Milano Graduate School of Business.
www.michaelpage.com
Clem Turner
Partner
BMK
General Legal Counsel: Clem has served in a "Business and Legal Affairs" position for two emerging companies and provided business and strategic counseling for numerous companies.
Business Combinations: Clem has handled the mergers of large public corporations and purchases of family-owned proprietorships.
Securities: Clem has counseled a wide range of companies on securities issues, from Fortune 100 public companies to pre-formation start-ups.
Entrepreneurial Law: Clem has represented start-up, emerging and established technology companies in a variety of ways, including Venture Capital Raises, Partnership Agreements, Employment Agreements, Non-Disclosure Agreements and more.
Entertainment Law: Clem has worked as a production company executive handling all legal aspects of film, television, internet and corporate production. Clem currently represents several production companies and talent.
Elliott Levine
Distinguished Technologist and Director of Education
HP
Elliott has experience working inside of academia in K-12 and Higher Education, as well as a wealth of startup experience and background as an executive in a Fortune 50 company (the first HP Distinguished Technologist in Education). His skill set crosses sales, marketing, partnerships, alliances, strategic planning, channel/reseller execution, STEM education, columnist and customer/media facing speeches and keynotes.
At HP, his vision is to create technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere — every person, every organization, and every community around the globe. This motivates them — inspires them — to do what they do. To make what they make. To invent, and to reinvent. To engineer experiences that amaze.
Connor O'keefe
Vice President
Quad Partners
Connor joined Quad in 2015 and is a Vice President. He leads efforts in a deal generation, transaction execution and portfolio management. He is currently a Board Member of TargetX, ILSC, Interfolio, Cayuse, and Rubicon. Prior to Quad, Connor worked in investment banking at Moelis & Company. He holds a BBA from the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.
http://www.quadpartners.comAllison Williams
Partner
Newark Venture Partners
Allison Williams is Director of NVP Labs, a “bridge-to-seed” accelerator program at Newark Venture Partners. NVP Labs invests in early-traction B2B businesses that have strategic alignment with NVP’s corporate LPs (Audible/Amazon, Prudential, Dun & Bradstreet, Panasonic, RWJBarnabas and others). Before moving to venture, Allison became a seasoned leader with CEO and COO experience and a proven track record of driving expansive growth in startup technology companies. As founder and CEO at Yarly, in two and a half years, Allison assembled a talented technical team, built a cross platform mobile application, established a nationwide distributed salesforce and achieved profitability. In mid-2015, Yarly was acquired by YesVideo, a top competitor which powers over 30,000 retail locations, and Allison was retained as an advisor. Since then, Allison has been COO of a multi-national influencer brokerage software company (top clients include L’Oreal and Heineken) as well as Head of Strategy for a leader in the live streaming video space (top clients include Univision and Monumental Sports).
http://newarkventurepartners.comTim Connors
Co-founder
Edtech Advisory Group
Tim is a passionate, results-driven leader and business development executive and currently advises publishers and educational technology developers who are changing the landscape of education. Tim also serves as principal of K12Interactive which has a focus on developing and managing strategic partnerships for leading-edge EdTech organizations. His expertise includes sales, marketing, business development for start-up and early-stage companies. In addition, he has many years of senior executive level experience in K-12 content and healthcare publishing.
www.edtechadvisorygroup.comBrett Brody
Chief Strategy Officer
Source Inc.
Brett joined the VentureOut team in January 2014 as the Director of Business Development responsible for developing the pipeline of programs sponsor and partner outreach and startup due diligence. Prior to VentureOutBrett spent time in consulting, finance, and sales within a number of startups and small institutions. While not at work you can find him playing guitar, checking out local music or cheering on his beloved Knicks. He earned his Bachelor's of Science in Management at Tulane University where he studied Finance and Music and is proud to call New Orleans a second home.
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https://www.ventureoutny.comTorrance Robinson
Founder & CEO
trovvit
Torrance is an experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the e-learning industry. He is a strong entrepreneur professional skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Business Planning, Sales, Learning Management, and Educational Technology.
Torrance is the Founder and CEO of Trovvit. Trovvit is designed to help students find, capture, organize, and share their learning experiences and networks.
http://www.trovvit.comThe Startups
Uvii
Uvii is a female-led NY based EdTech company committed to social learning. Uvii’s patent pending video commentary plugin embeds agnostically with LMS software platforms, mobile applications, and websites allowing users to create video comments to posts within any given platform.
Uvii partners with colleges and universities including NYU Stern, (NYIT) New York Institute of Technology, and (CUNY) City University of New York for student engagement, social curriculum, tech transfer, and entrepreneurial internships using our private beta Apple Enterprise platform.
uviiapp.comUcroo
Beyond a portal : Ucroo digital campus
Ucroo connects people to everyone and everything that matters. As a highly strategic, yet easy to implement “front door” to any system, our platform turns disparate tools into united experiences. As a replacement for the school portal (which has currently almost zero ROI), universities can now give people the ability to create community around everything.
Ucroo offers both efficiency and transparency, personalization for a contemporary experience, integration of every resource deemed important, and data analysis of both risk and success for all students.
Our platform promotes new enrollments, helps retain students, and fosters alumni affinity, making Ucroo a compelling buy for universities.
www.ucroo.comUPchieve
UPchieve is an ed-tech nonprofit that provides underserved high school students with access to on-demand tutoring and college counseling through our web and mobile apps. We believe that getting help when you need it should be simple for all students – not just those with financially stable and supportive parents. That is why we’ve designed an app platform that allows students to request and be paired with an academic coach within minutes, even late at night. Our app also motivate students to get help when they need it by letting frequent users level up and earn rewards.
upchieve.orgFace2Face Health
Face2Face Health is a web & mobile-based holistic pediatric telehealth platform, based on our model of Learn, Care, Share. Our mission is to help parents & caregivers accurately learn about, identify, and manage their children’s health and well-being challenges. We identified this need based on the fact that 1 in 5 U.S. children have developmental, emotional, physical or learning issues and only 30% of all children are screened or have access to care, information, and support.
http://www.f2fhealth.comSportsHi
The SportsHi mission is to become the home of high school sport throughout the United States. SportsHi is a high school sports network, empowering students to be active and engaged with both sports and their communities. Our network will essentially be owned by the high school students themselves, think the ESPN for high school sport, although the students are the journalists/curators, and the app provides team management software for teams and schools (at a premium). Coaches, parents and fans will have access to SportsHi although their permissions will be restricted based on their roles.
http://www.sportshi.ioTrilogy Mentors
Trilogy Mentors works with large, educational organizations to provide engaging academic support programs for their students, at scale. We do this by leveraging technology and holistic education, to deliver an ethical and effective online learning experience.
trilogymentors.comEmerging Rule
Emerging Rule, designs, develops, and markets EdTech solutions and computer software. The Company executed LevelShip's™ (Pat. Pend. Machine Learning LMS) R&D late 2016-2018 & plans to sell a range of related software, services, solutions & applications in a global trillion-dollar sector. Up to date, the company target segments include North America & Latin America but achieved some buzz in China through Innostars & Silicon Valley Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum recognition.
emergingrule.comDisprz
Disprz equips the frontline workforce with the right skills to make them job-ready and enhance productivity to create tangible business results.
The key hallmarks that make Disprz’s mobile learning platform unique are:
- Just-in-time learning and manager support for effective employee on-boarding and engagement
- Instant announcements, news and updates to ensure real-time communication
- Interactive bite-sized content authoring and delivery for continuous training and engagement
Program Partners
NYU
At the College of Global Public Health at New York University, we are preparing the next generation of public health pioneers with the critical thinking skills, acumen and entrepreneurial approaches necessary to reinvent the public health paradigm.
publichealth.nyu.eduStartED
StartEd’s accelerator program provides up to $170, 000 in funding, mentorship, coaching, legal services, development expertise, sales consulting, and business development, among other resources. It is designed to help entrepreneurs secure their next round of financing, culminating in NY Edtech Week when companies will present to an unparalleled network of angel and venture capital education investor.
http://www.startedaccelerator.comOur Sponsors
BMK
Barst Mukamal & Kleiner LLP is an international immigration law firm based in New York City. Founded in 1930, BMK LLP is one of the oldest and most established immigration firms in the country, and one of very few firms of its boutique size offering a stand-alone immigration law practice.
bmkllp.comDentons
Dentons is the world's first polycentric global law firm. Dentons' newly acquired Venture Technology team is a top-ranked practice focused on technology, with a core emphasis in digital media, mobile, adtech, data privacy and fintech and exclusively represents startups and venture capital funds. In this strategy session, the Venture Tech team will speak one-to-one with each company regarding international expansion plans, strategic legal issues, IP concerns, term sheet strategy and more.
http://www.dentons.comWithum
WithumSmith+Brown, PC (“Withum”) is a nationally ranked Top 30 Firm that empowers clients with innovative tools and solutions to address their accounting, tax and advisory needs. Our highly responsive team of professionals offers deep industry expertise and service experience to help our clients grow and thrive— to Be in a Position of Strength.
www.withum.comLa Playa Insurance
Our specialist teams are true experts in their fields, committed to outstanding service combined with first class advice and customized insurance programs for Science & Technology, Media & Digital, Arts & Entertainment, Fine Art, Private Client.
What sets us apart is the advice we offer: we really know our stuff. We listen, we analyse, we advise you on how to eliminate or mitigate your risk, and how to protect yourself against what remains.
http://www.laplayainsurance.comEscalon Services
Escalon exists to unburden entrepreneurs. We want to give you back your most important asset: time to focus on growth. Since 2006, we’ve leveraged our team’s extensive hands-on experience to help CEOs handle their business’ operational and tactical needs at all stages.
Our proactive approach means we’re more than a service provider: we’ve become a trusted ally. We deliver customized and comprehensive solutions for handling non-core yet essentials functions, like finance & accounting, HR, payroll, tax, and benefits. Based in the Silicon Valley, Escalon serves startups and growing companies from over 16 different countries.
escalon.servicesTrinet
TriNet provides small and midsize businesses with a full-service HR solution so they can free themselves from the complexities of HR and focus on their goals. As their trusted HR business partner, TriNet assumes many of the responsibilities of being an employer and helps these companies contain HR costs, minimize employer-related risks and relieve the administrative burden of HR. TriNet offers bundled HR products tailored by industry and strategic HR services, resulting in a comprehensive and empowering solution.
www.trinet.comAlpha Translations
When it comes to language, localized content is an important factor that ensures your message will be understood when you are entering a new market. Your translated communications should effectively address complex localization issues such as dialect, phrasing and terminology so that they accurately reflect your original intent.
Alpha Translations Canada Inc. was established in June of 1994 by Michèle Hecken, herself an accredited translator and interpreter, and has since grown into a thriving international business. We offer language services tailored specifically to your needs, inmany languages combinations. Your translation team is assigned to your project according to their familiarity with and expertise in your particular industry, as well as with the nature of the material being translated.
www.alphatranslations.caSpark Labs
Spark Labs is a co-working community and venture incubator dedicated to digital start-up companies in NYC. They help tech entrepreneurs develop their business in the US or Europe by leveraging their space and support infrastructure.
spark-labs.coClarity PR
Clarity PR is an international public relations agency specializing in strategic communications for fast-growth technology companies. The company is known for its strategic approach to PR and its impactful, editorially-driven media relations campaigns. Headquartered in London with offices in New York and Berlin, the Clarity team works with companies ranging from promising new startups to multinational organizations. In 2016, Clarity was ranked among PR Week's Top 150 technology PR firms in the UK.
http://clarity.prCollectively
Collectively is a digital agency that believes technology can radically change the status quo.
Through strategy, design, and development, we work with entrepreneurs, changemakers, and institutions to create technology that empowers people to overcome their biggest challenges.
http://docollectively.com