SchooLinks Secures $80M in Series B Funding

SchooLinks, a platform dedicated to enhancing College and Career Readiness (CCR) for K-12 students, has announced a major milestone with its $80 million Series B funding round.

The investment, spearheaded by Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE), marks a pivotal moment for the Austin-based company as it expands its services to help more students, families, and school districts nationwide.

The funding round also included investments from Stephens Group, Strada, and ASA, positioning SchooLinks for even greater growth and product development in the CCR space.

The newly secured capital will enable SchooLinks to broaden its suite of resources, which already includes engaging assessments, gamified lessons on financial literacy, and scholarship applications, among other offerings. This comes at a time when concerns about college and career readiness are increasingly prevalent.

Recent data from ACT scores revealed that only 20% of high schoolers in the class of 2023 graduated ready to succeed in college-level introductory courses.

SchooLinks aims to bridge this readiness gap with a personalized approach, offering tailored roadmaps for students based on their unique skills and goals.

Founded in 2015 by Katie Fang, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, SchooLinks has rapidly grown to serve school districts across 40 states. Fang emphasized the company’s mission to democratize access to CCR resources, stating:

“I’m thrilled to be partnering with mission and vision-aligned investors in our latest funding round. SGE brings a significant amount of experience to the table, including deep experience in SaaS and the education industry.”

She also pointed out that the investment would allow SchooLinks to continue evolving, especially in its workforce solutions that support students after graduation.

SchooLinks has positioned itself as a modern CCR solution tailored to the specific needs of administrators, counselors, students, and even employers. Its tools aim to increase student engagement and improve workforce development—something that has set the platform apart from other players in the space.

• According to Josh Elser, Managing Director of SGE, “SchooLinks has emerged as the leader in the CCR space by bringing district departments together with its intuitive platform, perfectly aligning with our mission to support essential software solutions. They’ve not only achieved product-market fit but also redefined CCR with a bold, transformative approach unseen in the last 25 years.”

The platform has seen explosive growth, serving 15 times more school districts and 10 times more students than it did during its Series A round. With this new injection of capital, SchooLinks plans to expand further, particularly focusing on connecting K-12 education with employers and higher education institutions to ensure that students are prepared for their post-secondary careers.

SchooLinks has not only captured the attention of school districts but also organizations in the workforce development space, and an increasing number of employers have taken interest in the platform’s capabilities. Krishna Srinivasan, Founding Partner of LiveOak Venture Partners, praised the company’s progress, saying:

“We laud the incredible execution made under Katie’s leadership that has led SchooLinks to explode in scale and impact while serving school districts, students, and organizations involved in workforce development. This financing round is a testament to the company’s exceptional progress to date and will enable SchooLinks to capitalize further on widespread interest in the CCR space.”

Looking ahead, SchooLinks is focused on expanding its impact and providing school districts with the tools they need to help students thrive beyond graduation. The platform’s rapid growth and emphasis on workforce readiness have placed it at the forefront of the CCR industry, a space that is becoming more crucial as the challenges of post-secondary success continue to grow.

As Ryan Morrow, Managing Director of The Stephens Group, noted:

“We are pleased to collaborate with Katie and the SchooLinks team to support its next phase of growth. We believe SchooLinks is poised to continue its leading product innovation and best-in-class customer service that has made it the premier college and career readiness platform for K-12.”

With this latest funding round, SchooLinks is poised for even greater achievements as it continues to shape the future of college and career readiness, one student at a time.