Hartland-based startup Rex Academy is one of five education or workforce focused companies joining the 2022 OnRamp Education + Workforce Accelerator. Rex Academy will receive a $100,000 investment and work with gener8tor and ECMC Group, a nonprofit focused on student success, during this three-month accelerator. Founders will also receive individualized coaching and mentorship from industry leading education and workforce professionals.
Rex Academy is a K-12 computer science platform that aims to “remove the roadblocks” that exist for computer science education. It was founded in 2019 by software engineer Sandhya Padala. The startup was also recently named as a semifinalist at the Startup of the Year Summit.
“The investment and training will position (us) to provide more opportunities for women and students of color to enter into computer science and cybersecurity careers,” said Padala.
The four other start-ups taking part in the accelerator include Austin, Texas-based Clusiv; Somerville, Massachusetts-based Julius Education; Washington, D.C.-based Transizion; and Toronto-based Wiz Kid Learning.
“We view OnRamp as a channel for our Education Impact Fund to broaden its support for the education and workforce entrepreneurial ecosystem by providing critical access to capital, network, mentorship, and other resources to companies that are still in the nascent stages of their development,” said Joe Watt, vice president of corporate development & impact investing at ECMC Group.
These companies are providing solutions for the education and workforce sectors through services that include job training for visually-impaired individuals, upskilling for the green infrastructure workforce, accessible virtual curriculum for computer science education, project-based STEM education courses and customized college admission counseling.
“This cohort will move the needle toward bridging the gap between education and career. The ECMC Group and gener8tor are thrilled to welcome these companies to the 2022 program,” said YaaJoy Engel, managing director of the accelerator.
This year’s OnRamp Education + Workforce Accelerator will take place June 16 in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
