FUNDING THE REVOLUTION: DC-based incubator 1776 has closed a $12.5 million seed fund to invest in “pre-Series A startups” working in education, health, energy, transportation and smart cities. First announced in 2014, the fund has supported 20 companies, six of which are focused on education. One of them—Always Prepped—was acquired in February. “Our initial investments in a company are around $100k, so the 20 deals to date have made but a small dent in the fund,” 1776 co-founder Donna Harris tells EdSurge.
While there are no earmarks for how the fund will be split across the different sectors, “we are currently pursuing many edtech investments—including 1776-incubated edtech companies and others funded by larger, more established edtech venture funds (that have not been part of our incubator),” wrote Rusty Grieff, Managing Director of 1776’s Education Ventures, in an email.
