Melbourne data analytics startup Intellischool has raised $3.3 million as it appears to be going global with its edutech platform.
The round was led by Sydney VC EVP and supported by social impact investor Save the Children Impact Investment Fund, edtech ventures school box and Curio companies, and personal support from several edtech entrepreneurs. The capital is intended to enhance customer growth and deliver product improvements as part of its ambitions to target primary and secondary schools in international markets.
Intellischool’s SaaS platform pulls data from multiple software sources to provide educators, school administrators, students, and parents with insights that drive student performance and well-being.
Dave Philippe and Josh Turcic Founded in 2018, Intellischool integrates rich data into software solutions in a school environment to surface analytics for its unique deep integrations enable the solution to uncover context-aware, actionable insights into existing learning workflows, while adding value to any educational technology value proposition.
Philp said that teachers can become frustrated and overwhelmed with having to switch between software systems, so Intellischool is designed to bring insights within the existing solutions teachers use every day to provide “in the moment” insights to act on.
“In my previous roles working with schools, I saw firsthand the frustration teachers experienced getting the most out of their data,” he said.
“Initial excitement for all the new and exciting software was quickly displaced by confusion as valuable information spread across multiple silo tools. Teachers and school staff were clamoring for a way to make sense of all this unworkable data. Josh and I were very conscious about building a solution that made simple and actionable insights a part of everyday learning and teaching.”
A typical tech stack in school may include more than a dozen software solutions ranging from a student information system to a learning management system (LMS), several digital curriculum providers, plus multiple learning, assessment, and student wellness tools. Philp said this makes it difficult for information to sync across solutions to gain insights for student benefit.
“It is extremely exciting to see how Intellischool’s product has become mission critical for teachers, students and school administrators. For educators, our software allows them to see student performance and identify students at risk,” he said.
“For the living room teacher, year coordinators and student mentors, automated and timely notifications have proven to be critical in facilitating student check-in, initiating out-of-cycle interventions and identifying which students may need priority attention.
He added that providing holistic student achievement data to principals and school administrators allows them to apply for need-based funding and grants to help underperforming students.”
“We have seen tremendous demand for our product since we went live just two years ago. Schools need little persuasion to get on board, and ultimately they understand that our product improves student outcomes, teacher satisfaction and overall school performance,” said Philp.
EVP investment manager Mark Velik said the edutech startup has strong traction in a notoriously elusive market, demonstrating its inherent value.
“Our conversations with Intellischool customers and prospects confirmed the deep emotional relief that Intellischool’s product offered and the seriousness of the problem that needs to be addressed,” he said.
“The first offshore clients proved it was a global scale opportunity for the company to tackle. In Dave and Josh, we saw the perfect founders to tackle this huge task with their deep relevant experience in data and technology roles in schools.”