May 20, 2016 | KICKUP: $1.54 million to Philadelphia, PA-based KickUp in seed funding led by Reach Capital, with Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Rittenhouse Ventures, the Jefferson Education Fund, Arcady Bay Partners and angels including Deborah Quazzo also participating.
Founded in July 2014 by former teachers, KickUp offers schools and districts a tool that runs “formative assessments for professional development,” in the words of co-founder and CEO, Jeremy Rogoff. Data from self-reported surveys, feedback and observations collected throughout the school year is fed into a longitudinal dashboard to show how teachers have grown—and where they can improve.
KickUp is a graduate of edtech accelerator Imagine K12’s latest class. The company charges districts a fee that varies according to the number of students or teachers. So far more than 50 school districts have used the tool.