Melbourne education startup Maths Pathway, which has created an online learning system to help teachers better teach their students mathematics, has raised $2.1 million in a seed funding round led by Social Ventures Australia (SVA).
Founded in 2013 by Richard Wilson and Justin Matthys, Maths Pathway works to help teachers better connect with each student and their learning needs individually. Teachers are able to set students up with individualised lessons, with the platform then providing them with data and insights to in turn help them tailor their approach to different students.
With the platform being used by over 50,000 students across more than 250 schools around Australia, the funding will go towards further product development.
“The typical year 7 classroom has an eight-year spread of maths comprehension. In many classrooms across Australia, there may be students learning year 4 multiplication tables and others learning year 10 algebra. Teachers struggle to manage lesson plans, assessments, and reporting, for such a wide range of learners in one classroom,” Wilson said.
“Gone are the days of a teacher delivering content at the front of the classroom. Instead teachers can work with each student on an individual level, more regularly.”
Maths Pathway is focused on influencing broader change in the education system, Wilson said, a mission aligned to that of SVA.
The investment is the first for SVA from its $15 million Diversified Impact Fund, which closed earlier this year.
Michael Lynch, executive director of impact investing at SVA, said he is excited to see the growth and maturity of Maths Pathway as a social purpose organisation.
“Maths Pathway is committed to improving the educational outcomes of the greatest possible number of Australian students. SVA’s $1 million investment will help them to innovate the model, scale operations and work towards that goal,” he said.
“Our investment mandate is to support organisations that create meaningful social outcomes for people experiencing disadvantage in Australia and we’re impressed with Maths Pathway’s impact so far.”
He added that SVA will look to invest in organisations working to deliver social impact across areas including education, employment, housing, disability, and health, and those working with Indigenous Australians.
Also looking to support social impact ventures is Unboxd, an innovation lab launched by social enterprise New Horizons last week.
Launched in collaboration with The Disruptors Handbook, Unboxd will run an incubator program and work to connect startups and scaleups with partners in its network.
Judi Higgin, CEO of New Horizons, said Unboxd is a way of “welcoming and investing in high-tech solutions for an organisation that was itself a world first as a social enterprise”.
“We will be providing appropriate access to our customer base, employees and their insight to help those startup businesses create solutions across the broad spectrum of service areas in which New Horizons operates – and beyond. That could range from a new disability support service to an interactive website or an app, to name a couple of examples,” she said.
Image: Richard Wilson and Justin Matthys. Source: Supplied.
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