Vectors - April 2018
What Moves School CTOs and CIOs: Lessons from PitchFest
            
Kevin and Rita with FETC PitchFest Winner Tony Weaver, Weird Enough Productions
After Arc hosted the FETC PitchFest Competition in Orlando, Arc co-founders Rita Ferrandino and Kevin Custer sat down with the esteemed judges to get some post-competition feedback. The judges - who serve as school district CTOs and CIOs in their jobs - shared some of the things they look for when determining which edtech vendors to engage with, and which ones they ultimately do business with:
  • Overarching Product Demo: CTOs and CIOs want to start conversations by seeing what a product can do to solve the problem(s) they are facing. This lets them gain a high-level understanding of what the product can do for them and their schools, before moving to more technical demonstrations later in the sales and decision-making process.  
  • Clear Commitment to Student Data Privacy (SDP) : From the beginning, you must demonstrate how your product and your company place a high premium on SDP. The SIIA Student Privacy Pledge is a good place to start; CTOs and CIOs need to be assured that you have SDP as a top priority.
  • Privacy Compliance: Products that don't meet student privacy standards won't be purchased by conscientious districts. Demonstrate how your product protects privacy early in your sales process with districts.  
  • Works Across Devices: Your product should be responsive on all devices supported by the district.  
  • Backed by Data & Research Evidence: It should be easy to show that your product makes a difference in learning. Easy-to-use dashboards are helpful in making the case that your product improves learning outcomes.  
For more on what you can do to help your product stand out to top decision makers,  get in touch with Arc today to see how we can work with you. 
What We're Up To
"'Pasta with Peers' is quite likely THE most productive and engaging event I've ever had the pleasure of attending in the ed tech space." - Laura Bresko, Founder, Progress Testing

Rita Ferrandino Part of EdTech Digest's Top 100 Influencers  As part of its State of EdTech 2017-2018 Report (order your free copy here ), EdTech Digest named its list of Top 100 Influencers in edtech, including Arc's Rita Ferrandino!

EdTech Times Interview with Rita While at the LearnLaunch Investor Summit, Rita spoke to the team at EdTech Times about the importance of investing in relationships.
Portfolio Company News
Kevin joins Caleb Polly, CEO of Arc Portfolio Company Boogaloo Beds as he accepts the UNC Pitchfest grand prize of $25,000.

CatchOn Recognized by EdTech Digest  Arc Portfolio company CatchOn was recognized by EdTech Digest as a Finalist in the Administrative Solution for its 2018 awards. 

Charmtech Labs Brings New Investors Onboard Arc portfolio company Charmtech Labs, a literacy software developer, was recently featured in Newsday after raising about $300,000 in a seed-funding round.

ViTAL Earns National Science Foundation Grant ViTAL, which allows educators to create "digital, accessible learning content that can be explored by students with visual impairments on tablets" was awarded the The National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) CAP Supplement Grant. Arc will provide ViTAL with a go to market strategic and tactical plan.   

Zyrobotics Gains a New Investor Backstage Capital, which specializes in investments in underrepresented start-ups, mostly led by women and founders of color, has announced its investment in Arc Portfolio company Zyrobotics.
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people. Enable them to see that it is their interest to preserve peace and order, and they will preserve them...They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." 

                             - Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to James Madison 
Opportunities
Rita gets a VR Lesson from Vassili Philippov, CEO MelScience, demonstrating why students would love learning science via VR technology.  

Nation's Report Card Release: Reading and Mathematics  The National Assessment Governing Board will release its national and state results on reading and mathematics on Tuesday, April 10 between 10  a.m. and 2:30 p.m. EST in Washington, D.C. The release will feature several presentations and panel discussions. Register here to attend or to watch the live stream.  

Kevin at the Polar Bear Pitch Fest in Finland



Milken-Penn Education Business Plan Competition and Conference  is taking place May 1st, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information or to register, visit here .


FETC (The Future of Education Technology Conference) will  occur January 27-30, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. Are you interested in conducting a session or workshop? Now is the time to apply .
Rita models BrainCo's wearable headband (like a FitBit). Under development, it will monitor a student's attention activity - students who focus more learn more. 
Government Relations Update

Education Spending Up in FY18 Omnibus Bill  With the FY18 budget finally passed, education spending saw a boost of $2.6 billion over FY17 levels. The big winners? Special education, and career/technical education. In fact, according to EdWeek, only one K-12 program saw a drop in funding (to $0) - the School Leader Recruitment and Support program, which focused on recruiting, training, and retaining principals and assistant principals in high-needs school districts. 

Language Arts and Reading Adoptions Across the Country  Multiple states will be adopting reading curriculums in 2019 and 2020: Florida (K-12), North Carolina (K-8), Tennessee (with ESL) and Virginia (K-5 and 6-12). In addition, Alabama is adopting a language arts curriculum.

ACT Releases STEM Reports  ACT has released its annual report on "STEM Education in the U.S.: Where We Are and What We Can Do," focused on student interest and achievement in STEM subjects. The report also includes state-by-state updates.

Education is a regulated industry. If you are selling at the federal or state level, you need to intimately understand the dynamics at work to be effective. For more on how Arc can help you navigate government relations at every level, contact Rita@arccd.com .
Upcoming Events 
 
April
  • 4/9:  Research to Practice Workshop, Catalyst@Penn GSE, Philadelphia (Rita hosting)
  • 4/13: Australian Consulate Workshop: Selling into U.S. Education, NYC (Rita)
  • 4/14: Kerr Cup Regatta, Philadelphia (Rita - available for work meetings)
  • 4/22: LRP Institute, Dallas (Kevin speaking) 
  • 4/25-27: Conrad Innovation Summit, Kennedy Space Center (Kevin and Rita)
May
  • 5/1: Milken-Penn Business Plan Competition, Philadelphia (Rita)
  • 5/8-10:  New School Venture Conference , San Francisco (Kevin speaking)
  • 5/10-5/12: Dad Vail Regatta, Philadelphia (Rita available for work meetings)
June
  • 6/11-13: M-Enabling Summit, Washington, DC (Kevin)
  • 6/22-25: SETDA Leadership Forum, Chicago (Kevin and Rita speaking)
  • 6/25-27: ISTE, Chicago (Kevin and Rita)
  • 6/29: EdEnt Capstone Course Demo Day, Penn GSE (Rita teaching)
What Arc is Looking for Now

Arc is looking to work with a few select growing education technology companies in an advisory, board or coaching role. More than 80 percent of the companies that have worked with Arc received an external capital infusion or acquisition offers within a year. Arc will also consider a few investment opportunities. If you know of a company positioned for strategic growth, please let us know.

Finally, because education is a regulated industry, education companies need to incorporate a government relations plan in order to optimize revenue. Arc's strong government and grassroots relationships, education industry expertise and business acumen allow for successful advocacy at both the federal and state levels. Check out our Web site at  arccd.com or e-mail us at info@arccd.com.
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