EdSights, renowned as the first AI-powered platform dedicated to amplifying student voices, recently announced an $80 million strategic growth investment from JMI Equity.
This partnership, which now spans over 240 universities and colleges across the United States, has enabled EdSights to develop a comprehensive and proprietary methodology for identifying and proactively supporting students at risk of dropping out. This initiative not only helps students overcome challenges but also supports institutions in improving their retention rates.
Since its founding, EdSights has emphasized the importance of placing the student voice at the core of the higher education system. Through its innovative platform, the organization has established a proven model designed to foster student engagement and enhance degree completion rates nationwide.
EdSights employs advanced artificial intelligence and personalized SMS-based communication to facilitate proactive engagement with students. This technology enables the platform to gather and analyze valuable insights into students’ experiences, addressing a wide array of topics including mental health issues, financial difficulties, and other personal challenges. By transforming these interactions into actionable real-time insights, EdSights equips educational institutions with the knowledge to address barriers to student success that have traditionally remained obscure and difficult to measure at scale.
The insights generated by the platform empower academic advisors and institutional administrators to implement targeted, real-time interventions tailored to the unique needs of their student populations. This capability not only enhances student retention but also fundamentally reshapes how colleges and universities engage with and support their students, fostering a more resilient and supportive educational environment. With millions of productive conversations conducted since its launch, EdSights has achieved opt-in and engagement rates that significantly surpass industry averages, highlighting its effectiveness in connecting with students.
EdSights proudly serves a diverse array of higher education institutions across the country, encompassing large four-year public universities, private institutions, and community colleges. Notable partners include Southern New Hampshire University, the University of Missouri, the University of Hawaii System, Oklahoma State University, and the College of Charleston, among many others.
With the recent funding, EdSights is poised to continue its trajectory of growth, focusing on further investment in its product platform and expanding its dedicated team. This strategic growth will enhance the organization’s ability to support institutions in their ongoing mission to promote student persistence, ensuring that more students have the opportunity to succeed and thrive within higher education.
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“Colleges face more pressure than ever to drive enrollment and retention, yet with fewer resources and growing demand for personalized support. Now is the time for institutions to shift their mindset and embrace new ways of supporting students. Since our founding in 2018, we have worked hard to find a new way to understand and engage students at the individual level, helping colleges support those most at risk– and we have found that when engaged the right way, students are eager to talk. As we enter the new school year, we are excited to announce this investment from JMI Equity, one of the leading growth investors. This partnership will help us scale our vision of a student-centered higher education system — one where student voices shape their support and experience, and every student is on the path to success.”
Claudia and Carolina Recchi, co-founders of EdSights
“Education technology has been a focus area of ours for decades and EdSights has really stood out as an organization looking to do things differently. Using a proprietary, leading research-based framework, EdSights has figured out how to engage students at the individual level to uncover what is truly putting them at risk. Their approach is improving student retention rates and reshaping the college experience, and we are excited to work with them as they chart their next growth chapter.”
Peter Arrowsmith, Managing Partner of JMI Equity
