Since 2014, RaiseMe has empowered more than 1.6 million students to build their path to college using incremental, achievement-based micro-scholarships

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., (February 20, 2019) – RaiseMe, a college and career readiness platform that enables prospective college students to earn incremental, achievement-based financial aid from colleges and universities, has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2019. The list honors organizations making the most profound impact on both industry and culture, showcasing a variety of ways to thrive in today’s volatile world.

Since 2014, RaiseMe has served more than 1.6 million students in their pursuit of higher education, helping them amass upwards of $2.5 billion in institutional financial aid from colleges and universities

across the United States. Students on RaiseMe have the ability to earn “micro-scholarships” from colleges through RaiseMe as early as 9th grade, money that they accumulate on the platform as they progress in their path to college and receive directly from an institution upon applying and being accepted. RaiseMe’s micro-scholarship tool empowers every student to build their path to higher education and beyond by introducing students to the wide range of college options, arming them with motivation and guidance to be successful in their pursuit of a college degree, and providing cost transparency to help students find the right academic and financial fit institution. Earning incremental awards over time, students can receive upwards of $80,000 cumulatively as they realize college readiness milestones, like getting an “A”, leading community service work, or participating in extracurricular activities.

Just months after serving our millionth high school student on its micro-scholarship platform, RaiseMe launched an all-new tool in spring of 2018 to support community college students looking to transfer to a four- year college. Like its high school counterpart, RaiseMe’s community college micro-scholarship platform enables non-traditional students to earn incremental aid from their four-year college of choice, incentivizing behaviors that best prepare a student for a successful transfer while offering students unprecedented transparency into the financial aid resources available from a college.

The idea for RaiseMe was born from classroom experience seeing that most scholarships are awarded too late to impact students college ambitions or preparation. “Students today face significant barriers to attending and succeeding in college, both around access and affordability. Too often, students apply to college today without an understanding of the true cost of school, let alone what they can be doing to improve their chances of success,” said Preston Silverman, CEO and Co-Founder at RaiseMe. “We’re humbled to receive recognition from Fast Company for our work to imagine a world in which no student is excluded from the dream of higher education, where our financial aid system helps and not hinders students from preparing for the cost of college, and where colleges rewards students for their individual strengths and skills.”

This year, Fast Company’s editors and writers sought out groundbreaking businesses across 35 industries and every region. They also judged nominations received through their application process.

The World’s Most Innovative Companies is Fast Company’s signature franchise and one of its most highly anticipated editorial efforts of the year. It provides both a snapshot and a road map for the future of innovation across the most dynamic sectors of the economy.

About RaiseMe

RaiseMe empowers every student to build their path to higher education and beyond by introducing students to the wide range of college options, arming them with motivation and guidance to be successful in their pursuit of a college degree, and providing transparency on cost that helps students find the right academic and financial fit in a college. On RaiseMe, students can join for free as early as the 9th grade and earn incremental, achievement-based financial aid from colleges for their achievements. More than 1.6 million high school and community college students have earned micro-scholarships on RaiseMe from nearly 300 institutions, including Arizona State University, Florida International University, University of Chicago, University of Rochester, Northeastern, Tulane and Georgia Tech. For more information and to sign up for free, visit www.raise.me.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Cecilia Xia

press@raise.me

310-408-6856