Startups

Edtech founders: it’s time to go out for that Milken-Penn cash

The application process for the annual competition just opened up. Here's why you should take a crack at it.

Tassl CEO Melissa Schipke took home $60,000 in cash last year. (Courtesy photo)

Trying to get your edtech idea off the ground might get easier after taking home some cash to get it all started. And the Milken-Penn GSE annual business plan competition, which just opened up its application process, is one way to get there.

This year, the competition — a joint effort between the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education and the Milken Family Foundation — is looking to pick companies working on these verticals:

  • Urban Education
  • Connecting Research to Practice
  • Teaching & Learning
  • Technology in Grades K through 12
  • Special Education & At-Risk Students
  • Open & Collaborative Solutions: The Education Ecosystem
  • Online & Distance Learning in Higher Education
  • Global/Borderless Education Solutions
  • Early Childhood Education
  • Workforce Learning

A sweetener of the deal is an invitation to join the Education Design Studio Inc. (EDSi), Penn’s edtech incubator.

Back in May, edtech startup Tassl landed itself $60,000 in prizes, out of a pretty decent pool of $140,000.

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