Press Release – Tampa, Florida (January 28, 2019) — Today Knack announced they have received a joint investment from ETS and VilCap Investments to further their mission of advancing academic success and college-to-career outcomes for university students.
“Knack’s objectives are in line with ETS’s mission,” said ETS Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Scott Weaver. “In addition to driving equity and opportunity in education, ETS is focused on bridging the gap between what employers want and what institutions are teaching. We’re seeking to help education providers teach and assess learners for key competencies of the future, employers recruit and develop employees, and job seekers demonstrate their skill set. With Knack, we hope to be able to inform and boost students’ skills development along with positive academic and career outcomes.”
Knack is the leading peer tutoring platform helping universities boost student retention, engagement, and college-to-career outcomes. Their mobile and web applications enable postsecondary institutions like Arizona State University to modernize and scale academic and student support services through an innovative peer-led model. The company focuses on up-skilling students not only for success in the classroom but also for the 21 st-century workplace. In an effort to democratize access to academic support for students of all backgrounds, Knack introduces Corporate Partners like PwC to sponsor the program at their growing network of partnered campuses enabling corporations to give back and identify/engage with rising campus talent within specific disciplines.
The Florida-based EdTech startup fresh off a $1.5M seed raise was selected for investment by a group of peer entrepreneurs on the final day of Education US 2018: Bridging the Skills Gap a four-month venture development program managed by Village Capital in collaboration with ETS, AT&T, BlackRock, and Lumina Foundation. Other organizations involved included the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Strada Education Network who offered strategic advice and feedback to the participating entrepreneurs.
“As we continue to partner with innovative institutions focused on bettering educational and career outcomes for students, we couldn’t be more excited to have ETS, the industry leader in assessments, join us in bolstering student-tutor learning outcomes and skills development” said Samyr Qureshi, Knack Co-Founder & CEO. “Having ETS as a strategic partner and investor gives us a unique opportunity to collaborate on and tailor our assessment process to better represent how students are developing throughout their tutoring – ultimately driving more value to our community of university partners and corporate sponsors,” Qureshi continued.
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