Acadeum, a Texas-based course-sharing platform that helps colleges and universities address these critical challenges to thrive in an era of profound change, has raised $11.92 million in its Series B funding round led by Green Street Impact Partners, with participation from ECMC Group’s Education Impact Fund and Pearson Ventures. With the funds, the company intends to expand operations and its business reach.
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Founded by David Daniels and Joshua Pierce, Acadeum (formerly College Consortium) helps colleges and universities create academic partnerships with like-minded institutions to support student progress and equitable access to workforce opportunity. The company aims to bring online courses to colleges, focusing on those that have yet to launch any. It creates groups of colleges, called consortia, to share their online courses to save on costs associated with starting a new online course or program. Popular courses on the platform cover general education subjects for Spanish, psychology and algebra.
Chief Executive Officer of Acadeum, David Daniels, shared about the platform:
Today’s learners are older and more likely to be parents or working than at any point in our nation’s history. The new majority of learners are putting pressure on institutions to align course offerings with the realities of their schedules and responsibilities beyond the classroom. At a moment when some are questioning the role and relevance of American colleges, we’re building tools to leverage the collective strength of our nation’s higher education system to unlock new opportunities for both institutions—and students.
Acadeum powers the world’s largest course-sharing network, with over 460 institutions working together to extend its reach and broaden its impact. Institutions can quickly embark on innovative solutions to future-proof their programs in the dynamic academic landscape through its vast academic network and best-in-class technology platform. The startup has also partnered with Coursera to allow institutions to expand their offerings of professional certificates aligned with immediate workforce needs.
Managing Partner of Green Street Impact Partners, Amy Bevilacqua, commented:
This is about matching the vast potential of existing, high-quality courses taught by talented, engaging faculty with learners who often struggle to access the classes they need to graduate on time and persist. Acadeum is changing the game for institutions working to fulfil and expand their academic mission. It enables learners to chart a more direct—and affordable—pathway through college.
The firm enables seamless access to high-quality online college courses for many learners, including those in high school and working full-time.
In 2021, Acadeum raised a $5 million investment from Rethink Education and Socratic Ventures, Lumina Foundation and LearnStart. Prior to that, the company had raised $7 million in a Series A funding round led by Lumina Foundation. Rethink Education, LearnStart and Socratic Ventures also participated in this round in February 2020.
