Although many consider education an inalienable human right, access to this resource has become extremely limited. From the UCs to community colleges, steep tuition hikes, dwindling amounts of student housing, and a flat-lining minimum wage threaten the livelihoods of students eagerly pursuing higher education. Tuition is one of the more pressing matters barring low-income students from attending college and is projected to worsen in the coming years. The cost of higher education has noticeably soared, increasing by 37% since 2008, while the amount of financial aid being disbursed dwindles. Likewise, in the face of a haunting promise to close the Department of Education, the goal of attending college can potentially become even more unattainable. Even if you manage to attend college, the struggle doesn’t stop there. In America alone, college graduates owe approximately $1.6 trillion in student loans.

Jorge Mazal, the former Chief Product Manager at Duolingo—the world’s leading language-learning platform and the most downloaded educational app—was rightfully frustrated in combatting these odds to obtain his undergraduate and master’s degrees. In an interview with TechCrunch, Mazal explained that when he moved to the US to attend college, he often worked odd jobs to make ends meet and graduated from Harvard with a quarter million dollars in debt. Although higher education opened many doors for his success, Mazal recognized how unfair the current system was for students in his position. With his other former Duolingo executives in tow—Daniel Falabella and Gina Gotthilf—Mazal dreamed up the idea for Outsmart Education, a way to make college accessible and affordable for all.

The Invisible Blueprint: How to “Outsmart” Higher Education

While Mazal, Falabella, and Gotthilf make a lofty promise to promote affordable pathways to higher education, their blueprints for Outsmart remain a mystery. The young start-up has yet to reveal how it will assist students, operating in “stealth mode” for the last eight months since its inception in April 2024. However, its lucrative seed-funding rounds indicate its potential to shape the world of higher education for the better.

As of November 2024, investors—including Khosla Ventures, Karman Ventures, Latitud Ventures, Lightspeed Ventures, Lenny Ratchinsky, and 20Growth—helped raise $13 million for Outsmart’s hiring and product development. Even without a solid blueprint of the company’s product available for public access, the confidence of these trusted investors lends itself to building credibility and attracting additional funding or partnerships. Surely, whatever Outsmart offers, whether it be financial aid solutions or new pathways to education, has captured the interest of critical stakeholders who believe in its potential to mend the “broken” higher education system.

Ethan Choi, a partner at Khosla Ventures, spoke to TechCrunch regarding his faith in the start-up’s vision.

“College-level education is a basic, universal human right,” he explained. “I’m actually a first-generation college student myself. Education has completely transformed my life and will impact my family for generations…I just think what [Outsmart is] doing will be world-changing.”

Does this start-up have the stuff to “outsmart” the traditional, inaccessible education model? Will it indeed be “world-changing,” as described by Choi, or will it fall short of its ambitious goals? While Mazal, Falabella, and Gotthilf have a mountain of a problem to scale, their illustrious careers and significant financial backing inspire faith in a college student such as myself, who hopes to see a more equitable future play out for my peers striving to achieve their dreams.