Florida Funders Invests in Educational Spend Management Platform ClassWallet
TAMPA, Fla. (PRWEB) March 08, 2018 -- Florida Funders, a firm providing early-stage capital to Florida technology companies, announces a $735,000 investment in Miami-based ClassWallet, a highly practical and powerful web-based spend management tool especially designed for the vast educational market. More than 2,000 schools nationwide currently use ClassWallet to automate processes for transactions for over 63,000 teachers and principals, freeing up tens of thousands of man-hours.
“It’s particularly exciting for us to support a project that employs the latest technology to solve a very practical problem that ultimately has such meaningful impact on real people, and ultimately and especially—kids,” said Tom Wallace, Managing General Partner Florida Funders. “ClassWallet is a uniquely high value product with great potential.”
One of the most relevant initiatives the new funding will help empower is developing and implementing functionality to support management of education funding to families for tuition payments and other educational services and needs, a widely used educational model in Florida and other states. Another exciting initiative the new funding will support is the implementation of a statewide rollout of ClassWallet in New Mexico as part of a new contract with the New Mexico Public Education Department. Ultimately, ClassWallet is poised to help address a $23 billion problem nationwide.
After creating AdoptAClassroom.org—a portal that allows anyone to donate classroom supplies for participating schools, and considered by many as the first crowdfunding website—inventor Jamie Rosenberg found that the mechanics of getting and tracking money for teachers and school systems was time-intensive, diverting precious time and energy from their core mission. He conceived ClassWallet as a tailored solution.
Like many large bureaucracies, school systems have a complex web of transactions and expenses administered by countless teachers, administrators, support staff, foundations and PTAs. Ordering classroom supplies, stocking offices, paying for conference expenses, or running the latest PTA fundraiser, hardworking educational staff spend countless hours processing receipts for even the smallest transactions. On the other end of the process, bookkeepers are burdened with processing mounds of messy paperwork.
School districts, state government, K-12 scholarship organizations and related non-profits use ClassWallet’s simple, consolidated platform that includes a virtual wallet, integrated eCommerce marketplace, reimbursement management, declining balance reloadable debit card, and integrated crowdfunding powered by GoFundMe.
Some of ClassWallet’s features include digital receipt capture for debit cards and reimbursements, transactions with electronic review workflow, automated invoice payment, automated direct deposit reimbursement and automated reconciliation. In addition to maximizing efficiency of this time- and cost-intensive process, ClassWallet saves bookkeepers and teachers countless hours while mitigating risk and fraud with built-in safeguards.
ClassWallet has attracted extensive media attention including a Wall Street Journal article by Leslie Brody that recognized the products’ impact, stating, “About 2,600 district teachers and 58 principals can tap into the gifts from $100 to $7,500 through ClassWallet, which gives access to vendors and tracks spending.”
“Florida Funders’ support has come at a most fortunate time when the Company is experiencing explosive growth. The additional capital will enable us to accelerate our product roadmap, and to expand our sales and business development resources,” said Jamie Rosenberg, ClassWallet Founder & Chief Executive Officer. “We’re especially pleased to be working with a funding partner right here in the Sunshine state, and hope that our joint success can attract more investors and entrepreneurs to Florida.”
Other ClassWallet investors include Brentwood Associates, Sinovation Ventures, Techstars Ventures, NewSchool Venture Fund, Corigin Ventures, and Vaizra Investments.
For more information on Florida Funders, please visit http://www.floridafunders.com. To learn more about ClassWallet, visit https://www.classwallet.com.
About Florida Funders, LLC: Florida Funders is a hybrid of a venture capital fund and crowd-funding platform that invests in early-stage technology companies in Florida. The firm is led by an experienced team of serial entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and experienced angel investors with proven track record of successful exits and a shared passion for growing the next generation of Florida tech companies. Learn more at http://www.floridafunders.com and check out our explainer video on YouTube.
Isabella Yosuico, Marketing Matters, http://www.floridafunders.com, +1 9549251511 Ext: 1, [email protected]
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