US platform Verto Education raised US$6.3 million in seed round of funding late last year as it seeks to expand its pre-undergrad travel concept.
Verto Education, set up by study abroad entrepreneur Mitch Gordon, encourages Americans to travel overseas and earn college credit while doing so before embarking on their undergrad at home.
“This is transformative not only for their college experience but for the rest of their lives”
“We believe strongly that we need a fresh approach to college and that the current model prioritises wealthy students and has artificial barriers,” he commented.
“Through our innovative approach to a freshman year at college, we help our students mature, build emotional awareness, empathy, learn, and gain admission to a great four-year college.
Gordon told The PIE News that programs in South Pacific and Costa Rica are particularly popular, while newer ones in London, Madrid and Milan are also growing.
“This is transformative not only for their college experience but for the rest of their lives,” he added.
First Round Capital, GSV Ventures, 10xImpact and Box Group are among the new investors which participated in the round.
“We have been blown away by the Verto team’s passion and commitment to revolutionising how higher education can be experienced,” said Phineas Barnes, Partner at First Round Capital.
“Higher education has needed a new, innovative approach for a long time, and we are thrilled to be a part of accelerating Verto’s growth.”
Verto currently works with 31 partner institutions in the US, UK, Ireland and New Zealand which offer college credit for the Verto Education program undertaken.
The company, which was set up in 2019, offers a range of “campus semester” experiences and “field semester” experiences in a range of countries.
Going forward, Gordon told The PIE that the work being done by platforms such as Verto will be “more important than ever”.
“We need every student to have cross-cultural experiences and that’s our mission and our goal, to give students access to these types of opportunities and do it in a really affordable way.
“Access and affordability is really part of our mission,” he added.
