Campus Steps Secures $3 Million In Funding
New College Counseling Solution Secures Funds and Executive Officers to Support Rapid Growth
SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Campus Steps, the platform that is transforming the way students manage their college futures, today announced that it has secured an additional $1 million towards its recently opened Series A, on top of closing its $2 million strategic investment led by Campus Explorer, a leader in college recruitment technology. Financing commitments have been made by OCA Ventures, Rincon Venture Partners and Vicente Capital, and the company expects to raise additional funding later this year.
Following a successful beta launch in September 2014, Campus Steps quickly surged to over 50,000 student visits a month, 20,000 student subscribers and already 20 percent (6,300) of U.S. high schools have active Campus Steps accounts. The funding will support the company's rapid development and increased marketing efforts.
"Choosing a college path is a critical life-event. It's as important as finding a job, getting married, buying a home, or having a baby. And while all of those life events have massive online industries to help you through the process, there's still nothing to help the millions of students who aren't getting sufficient college and career guidance," said Mark Eastwood, Chief Executive Officer, Campus Steps. "At Campus Steps, we're bringing students high quality counseling content, leveraging big data and harnessing a powerful network of on-demand counselors to help students develop a clear and accessible path to college and career success."
Campus Steps is targeting the 25 million middle and high school students nationwide who are currently not well served by today's college counseling system. Today, 90 percent of U.S. students get less than 10 minutes of college counseling per year. The average student-to-counselor ratio is 471 to 1. Private counselors are available, but at an average cost of $3,600, the cost is out of reach to most families. Due in large part to the lack of counseling and guidance received, teens are considered the most stressed out age group in the U.S., according to the American Psychological Association.
"We invested in Campus Steps because we saw a significant, unique opportunity amidst the fast-growing EdTech space," said Jim Andelman, Managing Partner, Rincon Venture Partners. "After spending six months being incubated by and receiving a strategic investment from Campus Explorer, Campus Steps clearly demonstrated that it needed to become an independent company and continue its fast growth trajectory."
With Campus Steps, students progressively develop college and career goals, build an appropriate high school course plan, have access to deep scholarship information and are given a curated list of colleges within a few clicks. Campus Steps also allows them to directly communicate with counselors via text, messaging, or email.
Campus Steps also recently ramped up its executive team by filling three key posts. The company's founder, Mark Eastwood, former Head of Product at Rent.com/eBay has been appointed Chief Executive Officer. Chief Technology Officer Dave Meyer, formerly of Free Credit Report and eNeighborhoods, brings over 20 years of experience in technology development and leadership, and Chief Product Officer Jeanne Anderson, former SVP of Product at DogVacay, will leverage her marketplace experience as she oversees both the consumer and college counselor user experiences.
Students and counselors can sign up for the platform at www.CampusSteps.com.
About Campus Steps
Campus Steps is reinventing college counseling for everyone. Campus Steps' mobile and web solutions offer on-demand counseling services and media to "step" students through every phase of their college readiness; from middle and high school course planning, to college selection, to applications and organizing finances. Along the way students connect with counselors and admissions professionals plus get data-driven insights to make the decision-making process less stressful and more communicative. Campus Steps is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA and is a proud member of the Silicon Beach community. For more information, visit www.CampusSteps.com. Follow us on Facebook @CampusSteps and Twitter @CampusSteps.
Media Contact:
Melissa Barto
JCUTLER media group
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SOURCE Campus Steps
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