Mapt (Techstars '24)

The future is rapidly approaching. This series will explore 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, Technology, and Resilience. Drawing from past learnings and current innovations, leading startup experts share their most compelling insights. Let's grow! 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 Fifty percent of organizations are diving headfirst into climate mitigation technology. This evolution extends far beyond solar panels and electric cars. In the next five years, we'll see the emergence of AI-powered energy grids optimizing renewable sources, drought-resistant crops, carbon removal tech, sustainable fuels, and more resilient infrastructure. This evolution is about building a future where technology enables humanity and the environment to thrive together. Jenny Fielding is the Co-founder and Managing Partner at Everywhere Ventures, a first-check venture fund and founder community like no other. 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 Traditionally, startups were motivated by our genetic impulses to seek status, protect families, and bond with a tribe. While this approach may drive progress, it doesn't necessarily promote well-being. Our genes don’t care if we’re happy—only if we replicate. Next year, however, more startups will wrestle with how to harness genetic drives to create a more prosperous, advanced, and better world. Nathan Blew leads a team of fractional CTOs and Product leaders at Convex Consulting, helping startups verify PMF, scale, and succeed. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 As low-carbon tech becomes cost-competitive and drop-in ready, corporations will (as usual) minimize costs and maximize profits. As sustainability further aligns with capitalism, the role of Chief Sustainability Officer will merge into the core duties of CFOs and Procurement Officers. The last 30 years of solar energy innovation and production illustrates this future for all carbon intensive industries: cheaper, better, AND more sustainable solutions will be commonplace. Peter Nocchiero is the Founder of Alternate Future, a ClimateTech-focused advisory and consulting shop. 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 Self-aware high school students make better choices about their education—whether to attend college, what to study, and which college fits them best. Research shows that thoughtful college planning reduces debt, increases graduation rates, and even improves health and voter engagement.* When students align their education with their authentic selves, they create a ripple effect of positive change that spans generations. Henry Woodbridge is the Founder & CEO of Mapt (Techstars '24), a gamified mobile app that helps students develop core values and passions. What insights are missing? Drop your thoughts into the comments! 👇

Last week capped Mapt's Demo Day and final week in the Techstars Workforce Development Accelerator. A huge thanks to Dave Cass, our brilliant Managing Director, and Sasha Green, the heart behind the program. Dave and Sasha fostered an incredible community of talented, visionary founding teams (no easy feat). I'm particularly grateful for the entrepreneurial community and friends built over the last 12 weeks. Thanks in part to Techstars, the Mapt (Techstars '24) made serious strides on our mission to democratize access to college admissions coaching. Shoutout to Xuewei Qian (Vera), Dan Gardner, Kelly Jin, Aditya Nair, Talha Gondal. Some of our recent key highlights: - 20% WoW active user growth over the last 7 weeks - 5,000+ organic signups - Implemented a social impact map and analytics framework on decreasing student stress caused by college admissions planning and increasing a student’s sense of belonging on college campuses. - Launched Mapt’s new personalized admissions roadmaps for students and families. Take a look: https://lnkd.in/eesGaAnM - Welcomed a new strategic advisor (details coming soon) We couldn’t have done it without the savviness and guidance of our lead mentor team: Arielle McKenzie, Matthias Pries, Lynn Luong, and Karl Rectanus—your support was invaluable! The Techstars journey has been one for the books—now, on to the next chapter! 📚

I just pressed the button! The new Mapt (Techstars '24) app (v 5.0.0) is out in the wild world!! With a brand new Roadmap feature to guide students and families through the college planning journey!!! Before getting carried away with introducing the feature, I want to shout out to our awesome team. 🌱 🥂 Kelly Jin our talented designer, reliable teammate, who made the beautiful ui and intuitive flow of the feature as well as the rest of the app. I've been so proud and honored to witness first-hand how far you've come from a great ui/ux designer, to now a great product thinker as well! 📝 Dan Gardner Henry Woodbridge the care and effort you've put in to create the backbones of the roadmap - the milestones, tasks and content that is going to be so valuable to the students and the family to work together on the college planning journey, and provide so much more clarity. If Kelly and I built the bottle, you guys filled it with essential water. 🐛 Talha Gondal thank you for reviewing the fat pr of 100+ file changes (I really am sorry and not proud of how fat the pr was...) We are so happy to have you as the new team member, and so happy to see how you've integrated with the team and contributed in such a short time! Special thanks to Tammy Alt for the expert advice on creating the roadmap. Techstars Workforce Development Accelerator Lynn Luong Kunal Parbadia for the amazing mentorship and support! Benjamin Friedman and Leah and so many other parents and students who were so willing to talk to us and share your real experiences and share your knowledge! We couldn't do this without you 💚 Now it's time to check out our new release on both iOS and Android app stores. With the brand new Roadmap for high school students and their families to provide clarity, motivation, accountability and collaboration on the journey to college with reduced anxiety. It takes real team effort. 🙌 Take a sneak peak:

Behold, a character creator made in #Rive! As someone who handles the illustrations and animations for the #Mapt app, it seemed like the logical next step to learn this new tool. 😍 What I've been loving about Rive Combining of design and animation - no more messing around in Illustrator, exporting the AI, then importing to After Effects; it all happens in the same software. Decreased timeline clutter - if it's not animated, it doesn't appear on the timeline. Blending animations - you can combine different animations seamlessly. Reminds me of Figma's smart animate, but upgraded! Amazing tutorials - whenever i had a question, the solution was usually just a short google away. Their official Youtube tutorials are great and split up into bite-sized chunks. 💭 Other things I would have liked to add to this More options - I could potentially add a height slider, mouth options, background options, etc... Secondary animations - blinking, tapping, waving, you name it! Improved props - choosing more than one prop, adding more in general (I wanted to add hats so badly... and even more fresh kicks) Efficiency - this took 14 layers and 48 timelines. I can't help but feel like there might be shortcuts I hadn't discovered... Anyways, you can mess around with the creator yourself and let me know your thoughts! https://lnkd.in/e2AjNCKN #animation #motiongraphics

We're excited to announce our latest investment in Mapt (Techstars '24)! Henry Woodbridge and his team are helping families find colleges, get accepted, and navigated the whole admissions process. We're looking forward to working with the whole team as they continue to grow their business! Read More here: https://lnkd.in/eaWU7DGN #startups #techstartups #founders #techstars #edtech #collegeadmissions

🚨 We’re testing a secondary business model at Mapt and could use your help. I’m looking to provide 1 on 1 college admissions coaching to a few more high school families using the Mapt platform. Doing things like college list buliding, conducting self-discovery assessments, a college-fit analysis, in-app direct communication, and booking coaching calls. 🔵 We see a path to make college admissions coaching way more affordable for families by using Mapt to streamline major parts of the admissions coaching relationship. 👋 If you know a student or family starting the college planning process, please consider sharing this referral link with them to book a free consultation: https://lnkd.in/evDAk6yp 🌟 This is great for freshman, sophomores, or juniors, interested in discovering or developing a unique personal vision for life after high school. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/exEgScWN

We are thrilled to announce 37 edtech founders joining us as Transcend fellows for TF13! 🎉 Julien Jukema (Anywyse): transform docs into engaging 15-min audio lessons Manish Poduval (OpenBootcamp): making people job ready at 1% the cost of most bootcamps Jamie Rood (Marking AI): assessments & grading tool for teachers Cali Meyrignac (Cali's Books): merging traditional books with tech Julia Dixon (ESAI): leveling the playing field in college admissions Nick Tsang (Bilin Academy): multilingual learning for k-12 learners Ali Iberraken (chapperone): for teachers to plan, manage & coordinate educational trips Sam Hiner (EdEngage): give students better personalized feedback Dr. Veronica Benavides (Bili): language learning tool for students Ignacio Q. (Minkedu): helps parents build activities for children Xuewei Qian(Vera) (Mapt): college admissions advising Akanksha Tiwari (Novela): digital simulations using real-world data for professional learning. Badri Varadarajan (HitWit): combining learning science and AI Dasha Kroshkina (Connected): matches immigrant talent and global opportunities Kerry Ao (Intertwined): for educators, schools who need a financial literacy curriculum Damon Moon (AskClass): helps teachers transform their lectures into engaging discussions Martha Belden (FORMA PRO): helps companies provide & monitor training for frontline workers Amanda Slavin (LearningFREQUENCY): reshaping understanding & measurement of learning Anil Karim: brain development research & practice to maximize human potential Paul Suhr (Hiveclass): helps educators teach the basics across multiple sports Jose M. Rodríguez Oliveira (Mundos): where ideas & curiosity come to life Marjorie McKeown (ALEE): tech-enabled tool that gives teachers everything they need to teach a book Vitor Barbosa (CoGrader): AI copilot for teachers Dean Celaj (GoTeacher): enables school districts to better understand the utility of edtech Ariel Andrés Sánchez Rojas (Clio Circle): reduce bullying in schools Raul Alcantara (Entiendo): personalized and interactive learning Timothy Owusu (iKolilu): efficient school data management Amaan Ahmad (PathFinder): self-directed & project-based learning for microschools Arnobio Morelix (Sirius Education): helping LATAM professional get global remote jobs James Mallett (Beeline): streamlines creating & running a digital/blended training academy Liam Lytton (Make Progress AI: report card comment tool to minimize teachers’ workload Pedro Lucca Passarelli (Ursula): virtual companions to make sure kids don't feel alone Will Peters (Bookji): social reading & exploratory tool for young students Alexandre Lect (edtake): combining instructional design AI with EdTech freelancer talent Nadeem Aljaber (TeachAid): 90% less class-prep for teachers Worksheets AI: streamlines educational content creation Ioanna Mantzouridou Onasi (Dextego): reduces attrition & allows soft skils training

Yesterday's 1 Million Cups Asheville speaker, Henry Woodbridge, was nothing short of extraordinary – the applause-o-meter hit unprecedented levels! Henry Woodbridge, founder and CEO of Mapt, who (by the way) met and formed his company inside Hatchworks Coworking, spoke about the ways he wants to help high school students and their parents prepare for higher education. Mapt is a revolutionary app that assists with everything from learning how to write an application essay to finding the right school for your budget. Their mission is to empower students to discover career paths that align seamlessly with their aspirations. If those aspirations shift during high school, so too will the app's feedback, helping students and parents each step of the way. Mapt is looking for community support! SHARE this post to help spread the word about: Product Feedback: Dive into the app, explore its wonders, and share your valuable suggestions for improvement! Partnership Enthusiasts: Help Mapt connect with all nonprofits, schools, and mission-aligned organizations. Fundraising: Support this groundbreaking technology. Visit their website for more information - https://app.mapt.co