Early stage technology investment.  A new generation of angel investing lives in Baltimore. Our investors are current and cashed-out entrepreneurs who have “done it” and can help other entrepreneurs advance to the next stage. Our investments are strategic, and not passive.  We’re looking for early stage technology based companies, run by entrepreneurs with a strong vision, and who are typically just beyond a friends-and-family round. We meet monthly in Baltimore, and welcome interested investors and entrepreneurs in the Baltimore/Washington area.

Baltimore Angels

City Light is a venture capital firm that invests early in impactful companies. They partner with experienced teams building category-defining solutions in the areas of education, safety and care, and the environment - where more revenue equals better lives at scale, every time. As one of the earliest and most successful impacts investing firms, City Light has a track record of identifying and scaling impact in ways that build better companies.  The firm was founded in 2004 and is based in New York, New York. Some of its key portfolio investments are 2U (Nasdaq: TWOU), ShotSpotter (Nasdaq: SSTI), Trilogy Education, and Ready Responders.

City Light Capital

CCM Group is a Washington, DC-based investment firm dedicated to generating superior, risk-adjusted returns on its investments. CCM Group is long-term, patient investors and primarily focus our efforts on two complementary sectors: commercial real estate and building-related clean energy solutions. We believe this unique strategy de-risks and adds value to investments in each sector.

CCM Group

Konvoy is a thesis driven venture capital firm. We invest in the platforms and technologies at the frontier of gaming.

Konvoy

K Street Capital (KSC) is a Washington, DC-based venture capital firm founded in 2012 that supports the development of high-potential entrepreneurs with both a seed-stage venture fund and a 100-member syndicate. KSC boasts the largest greater-DC region angel network whose syndicate  investor-members and Fund LPs are c-suite business leaders and owner/founders in the highest levels of government, media, technology, and finance. Over the past 10 years, KSC has invested $11 million in over 70 portfolio companies and funds, 50% of which are based in DC, and 42% of which are led by women or BIPOC founders. We aim to turn the Washington, DC region into the nation’s greatest exemplar of a venture capital hub that integrates diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout its ecosystem to build a community of founders, funders, and companies that are tech-forward and thriving.

K Street Capital

She's Independent Investments is a women-first angel investment group with a mission of getting more women on the cap table, in the boardroom, and in positions of power. We focus on seed+ stage investments (but are open to later stage rounds) across verticals where we align with founders and teams building impactful businesses with large addressable markets. Interested in joining us? Looking for funding? Email your pitch deck to investments@shesindependent.com. Our member-led angel group is comprised of active investors alongside Investment Observers, who are on their learning journey but not yet allocating capital. We plan to deploy $2M+ collectively over the next 12 months.

She's Independent

Legends of Learning

Legends of Learning is an e-learning platform focused on game-based learning to advance education. The company helps educators make their classrooms fun, engaging, and productive learning environments through research-driven, curriculum-based games. Legends of Learning uses ongoing original research to create an learning games platform filled with lessons for stronger subject mastery and classroom engagement.

<div>Legends of Learning provides a platform with research-driven, curriculum-based games for stronger subject mastery and classroom engagement. The service currently focuses on math, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and physical sciences for grades 3 to 8 and are based on Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Common Core, and state standards.</div>

Remote learning is driving an education technology revolution.

EdTech: K-12

U.S. Department of Education selects Legends of Learning platform for $8 million grant to study effectiveness of game ...

<div>
 
 Legends of Learning provides a platform with research-driven, curriculum-based games for stronger subject mastery and classroom engagement. The service currently focuses on math, life sciences, earth and space sciences, and physical sciences for grades 3 to 8 and are based on Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), Common Core, and state standards. 
 
 
 Teachers use the games, which they select from a playlist, to reinforce new content or to review before tests. Many games contain reviews by other teachers and additional questions for discussion with students. Teachers can also generate reports on class and individual student performance.
 
 
 In January 2021, the company partnered with AWE Learning, a provider of digital learning solutions for public libraries in North America, to provide its game-based learning platform on AWE Learning’s new cloud-based platform available on a subscription basis to libraries, virtual learners, homeschoolers, and pandemic learning pods—Platinum Online.
 
 
 In March 2022, the company 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8919">
 raised USD 5 million in a seed funding
 </a>
 round led by Konvoy Ventures. The company will use the funds to expand the team mainly in the sales, engineering, and game development functions. 
 
</div>

Founded in 2016, BookNook is an online literacy platform designed for learners in grades 1-5. Partnering with school districts and non-profit organizations, the company focuses on human-to-human learning and works with children one-on-one or in small groups, enabling it to gather rich, observational data. As of June 2021, the company partnered with hundreds of schools, school districts, and non-profits across 35 states.BookNook differs from other digital literacy tools by not requiring students to take formative assessments to check for their understanding. Rather, the platform lets teachers record qualitative data on oral fluency, such as whether a student pauses at punctuation marks as they read aloud, or reads in set phrases. Students can also record self-reflections on the platform.In June 2021, the company partnered with MIND Research Institute, a neuroscience and education social impact organization and creator of the PreK-8 visual instructional program ST Math, to deliver a High Dosage Tutoring program (HDT) for math to K-8 students to address unfinished learning. BookNook tutors will deliver tutoring sessions using the ST Math program over BookNook’s synchronous learning platform. The company launched a new teacher application portal at booknooktutor.com in October 2021, giving experienced teachers the opportunity to apply to become BookNook virtual tutors on its platform. BookNook intends to engage 10,000 virtual teachers to support 80,000 students by the end of the 2021-2022 school year.

BookNook

Story2 uses its proprietary Moments Method writing system, its StoryBuilder software, and live online group coaching to help high school students and professionals improve their writing, speaking, storytelling, and collaboration skills.The company aims to help different segments with their specific needs: students with college admission and scholarship essays, professionals preparing for interviews and creating cover letters, and business teams to improve sales, recruiting and company messaging through effective storytelling.Since 2013, Story2 has worked with more than 200,000 individuals in 21 countries with college admission essays, interview preparation, and pitching ideas. The company is expanding into China and India in 2020 and plans to focus on helping science and technology students improve their communication and leadership skills.

Story2

<div>
 
 Vooks offers a subscription-based, ad-free curated library of children's books converted to video with narration and some slow-paced animation, allowing children to read along while watching. Aimed at young children aged 6 months to 8 years, Vooks promotes reading aloud to develop fluency and comprehension. The company was founded by siblings Marshall Bex and Shannon Bex, and Russell Hirtzel, and is reportedly the first-ever streaming service for books with illustrations, read-along text and animations.
 
 
 In February 2020, Vooks raised USD 12 million in Series A funding; however, the investors and purpose of the funding were not disclosed. In November 2020, the company raised USD 21.9 million in equity investments from more than 30 investors.
 
 
 In November 2020, Vooks partnered with United Way of Metropolitan Dallas (UWMD), a community-based, nonprofit social change organization, and Atmos Energy, a natural gas distributor, to provide around 78,000 one-year Vooks subscriptions for children aged 3 to 6 and early education teachers in the Greater Dallas area. The program is funded by a USD 1 million contribution from Atmos Energy, and contributes to UWMD’s Aspire United 2030 education goal of increasing the number of North Texas students reading at grade level by third grade by 50%. Similarly, in March 2021, the company partnered with Reach Out and Read Of Greater New York (ROR GNY), a nonprofit organization of healthcare providers who promote early literacy. The partnership aims to provide more than 75,000 preschool children with one-year Vooks subscriptions starting in March 2021.
 
 
 In July 2021, it was reported that Vooks is offering its service to authors and producers as a way of quickly testing ideas with audiences through simple animated shorts. Thereby, Vooks expands its library of original content while authors and producers get real-time performance data.
 
</div>

Vooks

Xeropan offers an AI-powered, game-based approach to learning English through 14 of the most widely-spoken languages. As of October 2020, the app had more than one million players.

Xeropan

<div>
 
 GoGuardian is a provider of student security software solutions to help educators identify learning patterns, protect students from harmful and distracting content, and support students at risk of self-harm and suicide. As of August 2021, the company had partnered with more than 10,000 schools in the US, covering more than 22 million students.  
 
 
 In November 2020, GoGuardian announced a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/1863">
 merger with Pear Deck
 </a>
 to deepen the support provided to students and teachers and improve their in-class experience. Founded in 2014, Pear Deck is a student engagement platform that allows teachers to create, edit, and launch multimedia content and formative assessments on students' devices to increase student engagement. At the time of the merger, Pear Deck was used by 8 million educators and students in more than 17,000 schools worldwide. Pear Deck co-founder and Chief Educator, Michal Eynon-Lynch, will join the GoGuardian Board of Directors. In May 2022, the company acquired 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10683">
 TutorMe,
 </a>
 Zovio’s tutoring services business, for USD 55 million in cash to strengthen its product offering. 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In August 2021, GoGuardian secured a USD 200 million investment from Tiger Global Management. The funds will be allocated for product innovation, talent acquisition, and business development. 
 
 
 
</div>

GoGuardian

Businesses providing education delivery solutions such as learning management systems (LMS), and tech solutions for data analytics, administration, and other services to educational institutions.

Businesses delivering curriculum-based learning, particularly relating to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education to educational institutions and individual students.

Mostly for-profit corporations running state-funded, tuition-free schools as an alternative to traditional public schools.

Businesses providing extra-curricular education relating to the arts, hobbies, and life skills, and entities providing college and career guidance.

Businesses delivering English language arts (ELA) education, and language learning and literacy support to educational institutions and individual students.

Platforms providing students with after-school tutoring support on an individual or group basis.

Businesses delivering early childhood education, special education, and social-emotional learning (SEL) programs to educational institutions and individual students.

Entities providing professional development resources and tools for teachers, and those providing testing and assessment solutions to educational institutions and educators.

Platforms providing student-parent-teacher-school communication and networking solutions, and those providing search, reference, and marketplace solutions.

Adaptive learning platforms, personalized learning plans, and AI-powered analytics provide insight into student performance

Learning platforms that promote an inclusive and equitable educational culture for underserved communities

Uses AI/ML to create personalized learning plans, adaptive learning platforms, and intelligent tutoring systems

Legends of Learning

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