Oct 27, 2022

Odyssey (formerly known as Agora), a New York-based provider of a platform that helps states connect families to public funding and education services, raised $4.75m in Seed funding. The round was led by a16z through its American Dynamism practice, which invests in founders and companies that solve important national problems, with participation from Village Global, Bling Capital, Packy McCormick, John Danner, Red House Education, Avalanche VC, and founders and early team members from Stripe, Wonderschool, Primer, Sora, Higher Ground Education, Factor, and Hellosaurus. The company intends to use the funds for product development, to accelerate hiring to meet demand for its services, and to expand its services to additional states. Led by Joseph Connor, founder and CEO, Odyssey is a technology platform designed to support the administration of these state programs on behalf of families, vendors, and state leaders. Its approach combines a technology platform for enrollment and payment and user experience with on-the-ground engagement with parents and providers to increase participation in the programs. Last month, the company was selected through a competitive procurement process to administer Idaho’s $50 million Empowering Parents grant program. In the first 30 days of implementation, Odyssey processed and verified over 42,500 student applications from 19,000 parents. The company’s team includes both seasoned educators and developers from tech companies including Google, Lyft, AngelList, and Flexport. It also has an in-house team of ESA and microgrant experts, including parents utilizing these programs. FinSMEs 27/10/2022