We’re thrilled to partner with [Plum Alley] to fuel the growth of our network of empowered, entrepreneurial women bringing high quality education into their communities.
New York, NY (PRWEB) May 04, 2016
Today, Plum Alley Investments announces the closing of its syndicate in Tinkergarten, an early education technology company. Founded by Wall Street veterans Deborah Jackson and Andrea Turner Moffitt, Plum Alley Investments is a private, membership-based investment platform committed to investing in transformative companies with women entrepreneurs and gender-diverse teams.
“Tinkergarten exemplifies the type of investment opportunity we want to offer to our members,” says Jackson, co-founder and CEO of Plum Alley Investments, “Not only do they have a scalable, innovative business model, but they are highly committed to advancing social change through shaping educational enrichment.”
As profiled in the Wall Street Journal, Tinkergarten has built a fast-growing outdoor play-based education network that is making high-quality early childhood education more accessible by running classes in local parks. Tinkergarten, founded by Meghan and Brian Fitzgerald, utilizes a skillfully designed proprietary technology platform that vets, trains and equips a distributed workforce of exceptional leaders to run classes. Classes are offered for children ages 18 months to 8 years by leaders selected from within each community.
Tinkergarten’s technology enables them to build a nationally scalable business in a highly fragmented market. Still in the early stages, they have spread to over 100 locations across the country. This success caught the attention of the Omidyar Network, an impact investment firm started by Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay. Plum Alley’s syndicate was part of a more than $1.6 million seed round led by the Omidyar Network alongside other notable investors including City Light Capital, 500 Startups, Blue Seed Collective and Outbound Ventures, and Brooklyn Bridge Ventures.
“We could not feel more aligned with the mission or more supported by the quality of the Plum Alley team and investment community. We’re thrilled to partner with them to fuel the growth of our network of empowered, entrepreneurial women bringing high-quality education into their communities,” said Meghan Fitzgerald, Tinkergarten founder.
The Tinkergarten investment marks Plum Alley’s second closed syndicate in the last three months--the first being a Series A investment in Unitive, a company building software to counter unconscious bias in corporations.
As part of their dedication to building a more inclusive ecosystem of investors, Plum Alley sources opportunities and screens them to fit member interests and values. Companies that accelerate positive change, embrace innovation and have strong business models are important to the growing base of Plum Alley members, which spans members with experience across Wall Street, technology, education, philanthropy, Fortune 500 companies, and a variety of industries. Members of Plum Alley have much to contribute given their expertise and capital.
“Having been an active real estate investor for many years, I choose to invest in the Plum Alley Syndicate for Tinkergarten as a way to diversify my broader portfolio and complement my philanthropic commitments and personal passion to accelerate the impact early childhood enrichment programs can have in our communities across the country,” shared Plum Alley member Shannon Bauer, principal of Iliad Realty Group and board member of Children’s Museum of Manhattan.
To learn more about Tinkergarten visit tinkergarten.com/about-us.
About Plum Alley:
Plum Alley Investments is a paid member-only investment platform committed to offering new and seasoned investors highly curated investment opportunities and a different investing experience both off-line and on-line. Plum Alley Investments is part of Plum Alley, a company that has championed women entrepreneurs and women creators since 2011.
The members of Plum Alley Investments look for financial returns, access to opportunities that are not commonly available, companies that have gender balanced teams or women founders, and companies on the forefront of innovation. Members have access to private company investment syndicates, inspiring entrepreneurs, insights from seasoned investors, opportunities to collaborate with other members, and execute equity and debt investments.
For more information visit plumalley.co