Ocelot, an educational technology and student engagement company, has officially raised $117 million in funding, primarily from K1 Investment Management – the first time the game-changing company has ever secured outside funding.
Ocelot, a startup that, prior to this, has bootstrapped its way to success, is a service from CareerAmerica LLC. Its unified engagement platform combines student services with active engagement to help universities retain students. Its programs involve two-way text message campaigns that reach out to prospective students and alumni to involve them with school activities and offers.
Ocelot also builds artificial intelligence chatbot services to handle student queries, tech-forward access to student center hubs, and personalized help answering frequently asked questions. K1 Investment Management’s funds will be used to grow new solutions and more robustly build out older ones.
These days, Ocelot Chief Executive Officer Talin Andonians tells Silicon Angle, engagement platforms are the primary way to solve pain points for higher education organizations. Academia has suffered from a lack of technological innovation, she adds. Ocelot’s mission is to make the student experience easier. As outlets of all different kinds are competing for attention from young consumers, standing out amongst other frustrating operating systems used by educational institutions is vital, as it will improve overall student retention.
“Ocelot was built as a one-stop platform for higher education institutions to alleviate communication barriers,” Andonians tells Silicon Angle. “The investment from K1 will enable us to continue bridging the communication gaps between schools and their most important clientele – their students.”
The demand for Ocelot is evident, and its expansion has been well-received in the academic community. In its first 12 months in business, Ocelot served more than 500 universities across 47 states, fielding more than 12 million questions from students as it aided them in meeting enrollment requirements and graduation targets.
