2016 Finalists

BIBLIOTECH

Venture Path Description: Bibliotech is the Spotify for Textbooks. It’s a webapp providing students all the textbooks they need, at any time on any device for a small monthly fee. Our ground breaking search engine returns definitions, diagrams and examples enabling students to learn and answer assessment questions faster than ever before.
Founders Names: Ellis Gecan (CIO), Ryan White (CTO), Daniel Engelke (Growth), Dave Sherwood (CEO)
Website: www.bibliotech.education
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xODdd9mvfFQ
Twitter Handle: @bibliotechedu

CASEWORX

Venture Path Description: Caseworx is on the bleeding edge of experiential learning. We take case study learning off the page, into a video-based, interactive collaboration space for all types of learners.
Founders Names: Justin Wolske (Founder & CEO), Rudy Luthi (Co-Founder & CTO)
Website: www.caseworx.co
A 60 Second Video Pitch: Linked Here
Twitter Handle: @Caseworx

COMMUNICATION APPTITUDE LLC.

Venture Path Description: Communication APPtitude is an educational technology company co-founded by Beth Lawrence and Deena Seifert, licensed and certified Speech Language Pathologists, and national presenters on vocabulary instruction for those with communication and learning differences. Deena and Beth filled a void in the literacy market by creating two unique, visual methods for teaching vocabulary and semantic skills, not only for students who struggle with learning, but for all students who need to understand nuanced word meanings. Their apps have been downloaded by thousands, and independent research found InferCabulary was superior to traditional vocabulary instruction. Communication APPtitude is ready to take InferCabulary to the next level as a web-based, device-agnostic program, based on input from hundreds of users.
Founders Names: Beth Lawrence (co-founder, CEO), Deena Seifert (co-founder, COO)
Website: www.communicationapptitude.com
A 60 Second Video pitch: https://youtu.be/y-SGz45CWI0
Twitter Handle: @CommAPPtitude

NEUROTINKER LLC.

Venture Path Description: NeuroTinker produces hands-on learning tools and curriculum for K-college physiology and neuroscience education. Our signature product are NeuroBytes, electronic neuron simulators that allow students to learn about the brain while physically building their own nervous system.
Founder Names: Joseph Burdo (Co-Founder and Lead Educator), Zachary Fredin (Co-Founder and Lead Engineer)
Website: www.neurotinker.com
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGprhHp3ZZU
Twitter Handle: @NeuroTinker

OGSTAR READING™ LLC.

Venture Path Description: We hope to revolutionize the way people learn to read! Using the well-respected Orton-Gillingham approach, the OgStar Reading app provides a self-correcting, multisensory reading game for Dyslexic students, English Language Learners, and those with limited language exposure. As players navigate the 7 Natural Wonders of the World, K to 8 students learn to read in a step-by-step, engaging literacy journey.
Founder Names: Dr. Fran Levin Bowman (Co-founder), Ms. Stephanie Nislow (Co-founder)
Website: www.ogstarreading.com
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I76sK1Fn6dg
Twitter Handle: @franbowman1 @NislowStephanie

PINKTHINK

Venture Path Description: PinkThink is an interest-oriented and peer-supported web and mobile platform that makes (S)cience, (T)echnology, (E)ngineering, and (M)ath education powerful, relevant, and engaging for girls. Driven to make coding relevant to young girls, PinkThink has created cStyle Bracelets, an innovative wearable that girls can code to change colors based on things like ambient light and body temperature.
Founder Name: Makeda Ricketts
Website: www.thepinkthink.com
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://youtu.be/FQnwQCivn1c
Twitter Handle: @MakedaRicketts

PIVOT INTERACTIVES, SBC.

Venture Path Description: Pivot Interactives, SBC develops interactive resources for science learning, including both Direct Measurement Videos and Pivot Player. Direct Measurement Videos are short, high-resolution videos that show engaging science-related events. Pivot Player is a web-app that gives students integrated measurement tools so that they can collect data from our videos and analyze the events for themselves. Together with our curriculum, these products allow students to conduct true inquiry learning in a web-based environment.
Founder Names: Peter Bohacek (Co-founder), Matt Vonk (Co-founder)
Website: https://www.pivotinteractives.com
A 60 second video pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uNJ2UZS1ag
Twitter Handle: @bohacekp, @pivot_is

TALKINGPOINTS

Venture Path Description: TalkingPoints’ mission is to meaningfully connect educators, parents and students to increase parent engagement, across tech and language barriers. TalkingPoints is a multi-lingual texting platform that educators use to communicate with families via text messages with automatic translation. Teachers can select from text templates that are engaging and interactive, and curriculum/standards aligned to target literacy, numeracy and social-emotional development. We also use analytics to drive engagement and communication between educators and parents.
Founder Names: Heejae Lim
Website: www.talkingpts.org
Twitter Handle: @talkingpointsed

TASSL LLC.

Venture Path Description: Tassl is an alumni engagement technology solution that helps universities and their alumni groups engage with graduates in more meaningful ways outside of donations in order create a stronger culture and more meaningful relationships within their alumni network. Our technologies help universities to better understand engagement metrics, alumni to easily engage with their network and resources in a mobile app, and group leader to drive engagement locally with value added services.
Founder Names: Melissa Schipke (Co-Founder & CEO), James Maxwell (Co-Founder & CTO)
Website: www.tassl.com
Twitter Handle: @TasslApp

TEACHLEY

Venture Path Description: US students spend far too much time taking standardized tests, and public policy is shifting towards more innovative forms of assessment. Digital games can be a rich source of assessment data, yet, few games provide meaningful data that teachers can use. Teachley Connect syncs data from 3rd-party math games into a single dashboard to give elementary schools formative assessment data and intervention support.
Founder Names: Kara Carpenter, Dana Pagar, and Rachael Labrecque
Website: www.teachley.com
A 60 second video pitch: https://youtu.be/nxlkyuq9UFU
Twitter Handle: @teachley

 

Idea Path

CLASSROOM CONNECT

Description of your Idea: Classroom Connect helps teachers bring the real world to the classroom with first-person video call conversations, linking successful professionals with students who are eager to learn. Live access to professionals informs students about career options, inspires them to work harder and with increased focus, and gives them knowledge of how to pursue their goals. By hearing these stories, students might now pursue a career they may never have considered, or even heard of.
Founder Names: William Wong
Website: www.classroomconnect.org
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://youtu.be/wxhO-ZNUTgY
Twitter Handle: @mrwillwong

CLASSTAG

Description of your Idea: ClassTag is the parent engagement platform for schools. Classrooms use ClassTag to organize, track and improve parent engagement. ClassTag's ease of use, automation and reporting make it a must-have tool for teachers to meet their parent engagement goals.
Founder Names: Vlada Lotkina, Jason Olim
Website: www.classtag.com
Twitter Handle: @classtagme
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoiODORIfkA&feature=youtu.be

COURSALYTICS INC. 

Description of your Idea: Coursalytics is a marketplace for executive education. We help corporate and individuals users discover, compare, review, and book open enrollment courses offered by university and non-university-based providers.
Founder Names: Ilya Breyman, Alex Dolinsky, Vasily Shmelev, Greg Marchi
Website: www.coursalytics.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/coursalytics/
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8BN73Y4FCL4NFZjTXF2eUFCcWc/view?usp=sharing
Twitter Handle: @coursalytics

KidsCode 

Description of your Idea: KidsCode is a board game designed to teach, inspire, and develop computer programming skills in children. As an interactive board game KidsCode teaches children to think like a programmer and practice programming skills, even without prior coding experience. Using physical objects coupled with real code, KidsCode hopes to make education an experience, not an objective.
Founder Names: Joseph Weate, Charles Harding 

MILLION WORD CHALLENGE

Description of your Idea: The Million Word Challenge is an engaging reading application that uses students' intrinsic competitive nature as a way to motivate them to read one million words before the end of school year.
Founder Names: Daniel Dickey

 

 

MIND RIGHT

Description of your Idea: Our mission is to heal and empower urban youth suffering from trauma. We are building a mobile app and data platform service that helps youth overcome the impacts of trauma and empowers schools to meet students’ needs arising from trauma.
Founder Names: Ashley Edwards, Alina Liao 
Website: www.getmindright.org
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://youtu.be/HZK8_oBpZdo
Twitter Handle: @hey_ashley_e

SMARTY READER

Description of your Idea: SmartyReader cultivates the most important skill high school students need to succeed in today’s world: independent critical thinking. By integrating comprehension questions and vocabulary acquisition tools into a dynamic eReader platform, SmartyReader takes the guesswork out of critical reading instruction.
Founder Names: Ian Siegel (CEO), Nestor Walker (Lead Developer)
Website: smartyreader.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SmartyReader/
Instagram: @SmartyReaders
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://collaaj.com/9cN51vG
Twitter Handle: @SmartyReaders

THE TEACHER PLACE

Description of your Idea: The Teacher Place will be a free store for teachers from under-resourced Philadelphia schools where teachers can “shop” for free supplies donated by businesses and partners. For teachers, it’s a way to get the resources they need in one place that is easy to access and free. For businesses, partners, philanthropists and other organizations seeking to connect with and support teachers, it’s a way to do so without logistical challenges around identifying need and coordination.
Founder Names: Mindy Zacharjasz, Carlye Norton
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PLK3OxMnKk  
Twitter Handle: @TheTeacherPlace

 

TOOLBOX FOR TEACHERS

Description of your Idea: Toolbox for Teachers is a series of workshops and resources designed to promote educator resiliency and trauma-sensitivity in urban and low-income schools. The trainings are inspired by the fields of positive psychology, mindfulness-based stress reduction and social-emotional learning.
Founder Name: Joanna Schwartz
Co-Founders: Jamila Hankinson, Erin Rooney, Emily Reynolds, Rebecca Felker, Maria Ottinger, Beth Berman, and Darlene Vanasco, Gretchen Conn
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://youtu.be/d00I9STyIiw
Website: mytoolboxforteachers.org

 

TORUS TEENS

Description of your Idea: Torus is a marketplace that connects teens with afterschool and summer programs so they can explore interests and develop skills outside of formal schooling. Programs such as coding bootcamps, writing initiatives, sports clubs, arts workshops, and mentoring networks are instrumental in creating paths to future success. With inclusive access to out-of-school programming, Torus will catalyze improvements in youth behaviors and choices, college graduation rates, employment, and income.
Founder Names: Cecilia Foxworthy (Co-founder & CEO), Althea Smith (Technical Co-founder)
Website: www.torusteens.com
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://youtu.be/KCknOPo568s
Twitter Handle: @torusteens

UREAD: A MOBILE APP FOR ADULT READING DEVELOPMENT

Description of your Idea: URead is a mobile app designed to help adults reading at the 4th grade level equivalent and above improve their reading skills. Grounded in Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory of motivation, it enables autonomy, competence,and connection to engage users in reading practice, direct instruction, and interaction with other readers. Users will be able to read high interest texts at an appropriate instructional level, get assistance when requested, receive targeted instruction based on their requests for assistance, and track their progress.
Founder Name: Alisa Belzer
A 60 Second Video Pitch: https://rutgers.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/URead.mp4/1_l33n0mcx