Local Ed-tech Launches Equity Crowdfunding Campaign

Joshua Bradley and Mitch Slater, co founders of Levered Learning

At Santa Cruz New Tech’s Cruz Cares back in 2016, Mitch Slater took the stage for the first time to present his proof-of-concept curriculum product, Levered Learning. Just four years later, Levered is serving 6,000 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders, showing 70% higher growth in math in the first year of adoption at Title I schools, versus the previous year's students, on state testing. Joshua Bradley was a coach brought in by Cruz Cares to help the founders hone their pitch for the social impact business competition. Levered placed third and within a week Joshua and Mitch were meeting regularly to work on building the company. Joshua joined Levered full-time, as a co-founder, in 2019.

Levered began selling the initial 4th-grade curriculum to schools in California in 2019, doubling the number of schools and students from the previous year's free pilots. But nobody knew what was in store for 2020. When schools went remote last spring, Levered's focus on giving teachers real-time data about their students’ progress in math became a lifeline for student learning. In the first week of closures, schools using Levered were able to transition to home-based education seamlessly, avoiding what experts and the media are calling the 'COVID slide'. 

Last week, Levered launched an equity crowdfunding campaign on Republic, a spin-off from AngelList, to build grassroots support with people who align with their mission of equitable access to technology in education, quality instruction in math, and democratized investment. 

2020 has been a busy year for Levered. The company was recognized as one of the world’s most innovative ed-tech companies by the ASU+GSV Elite 200, received a Research-backed Product Certification from Digital Promise, and was a runner-up at Startup Monterey Bay in May.

You can learn more about Levered's campaign, watch a video of testimonials from teachers, principals, and students, and invest in this rising Santa Cruz born ed-tech startup at https://republic.co/levered. As the Santa Cruz Works community, you can also support Levered by sharing this story and spread the word to 3rd, 4th, and 5th-grade parents and teachers.

For more info go to https://www.levered.com