By Allan Maurer
ARLINGTON, VA – Starfish Retention Solutions, which develops software to promote student success in higher education, has raised a $3.15 million first round led by Novak Biddle Partners.
The company is preparing to launch its first product, Starfish Office Hours.
Starfish CEO and founder David Yaskin tells TechJournal South it is just the first of six products the company has on the drawing boards.
He says the 12-person company will be doing some hiring of programmers and an operations person, up to seven people in the next six months and expects to grow more next year.
Starfish seeks to improve higher education retention and graduation rates by helping academic institutions organize the services that have the greatest impact on student success.
Its software platform will improve the delivery and assessment of programs which identify at-risk students, promote contact with instructors, deliver tutoring services, provide academic advising, and facilitate relationships with mentors.
Yaskin notes that 43 percent of today’s college students are first generation and lack a parental model for higher education success.
“Starfish has the potential to profoundly impact the success rates of students at all levels – from community college students to those pursuing advanced degrees. The ability to improve retention and graduation rates has significant implications for both the students and the institutions,” said Jack Biddle, general partner, Novak Biddle Venture Partners and Starfish Retention Solutions board member.
Yaskin said the company’s research suggests that it can improve the odds of graduation for the half of students entered in college today who otherwise would not complete their educations. It does so by leading to more contact with instructors, advisors and counselors.
“Starfish OFFICE HOURS enables students to develop and maintain relationships with campus faculty and staff who can help them achieve success.
“We’ve worked closely with a number of schools, including Princeton University and Grand Rapids Community College, to develop this new academic-networking software which provides an efficient, cost-effective platform from which students can be supported outside of the classroom,” he said.
Products in the pipeline include one to help identify students at risk, tutoring management software and one focused on mentoring.
Yaskin was an executive at Blackboard, another Novak Biddle-backed educational software company, prior to starting Starfish in 2007.
On the Web: www.starfishsolutions.com
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