New Markets Venture Partners, along with Washington, D.C.-based ETS Strategic Capital, led a $7 million Series C funding round for APDS, a public-benefit corporation that delivers individualized learning programs to prison inmates. Other investors who participated in the round included Converge Venture Partners, ECMC Group’s Education Impact Fund, Juvo Ventures, the Partnership Fund for New York City, Rethink Education and Strada Education Network.
“We are very excited to support APDS as it scales an increasingly efficacious solution to dramatically improve outcomes for returning citizens,” said Mark Grovic, co founder and general partner of the Maryland venture firm. “The management team is best in class and APDS is exactly the type of high-impact and commercially successful investment New Markets strives to enable.”
APDS chief executive Harris Ferrell pointed to favorable tail winds for his company’s business. “The momentum is growing across the country to rethink our society’s approach to incarceration and preparation for re-entry,” said Ferrell, citing the Biden administration’s pledge to allocate $145 million for such programs.
So far, APDS has raised $35.4 million, including a $5 million Series B round in 2020 led by New Markets, and $10 million in a Series A round led by Rethink Education.
Focus on ‘Double Bottom Line’
New Markets Venture Partners has an eye on the so-called “double bottom line” — a measurable social outcome, in addition to traditional financial profits. It is a reason why it has focused on funding educational startups, and addressing critical gaps in education — nearly a third of Americans have no college degree and less than 30% of students have adequate reading and math skills.
Since its founding in 2003 by Grovic and Robb Doub, New Markets has made over 50 portfolio investments and 12 exits since its founding in 2003.The firm’s most recent portfolio investments include Pathstream, Pairin and Presence Learning. Its most notable exits include Galvanize, Credly and Signal Vine.
New Markets’ investment in APDS has been overseen by Grovic and general partner Jason Palmer.Both hold board seats on the New York company.
Grovic previously co founded the online educational firm Life Journey and the Templeton Emerging Europe Fund. He also served as the VC-in-Residence at the University of Maryland University College’s Smith School and as deputy director of the college’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship.
Palmer joined New Markets in 2011 and became a general partner in 2016. He previously worked for the Gates Foundation, where he led innovation to improve outcomes for disadvantaged college students. Palmer has also held executive positions at Microsoft, SchoolNet, Kaplan and Straighter Line.
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APDS serves learners in more than 110 correctional facilities in 17 states. It uses a proprietary curriculum called “Whole Human Framework” to deliver individual plans and assessments. Students taking its programs have a 130% higher pass rates in high school equivalency (HSE) exams and are about 70% more likely to complete their post-release re-entry plans than their peers, APDS claims.Its learners also enjoy a 20% better success rate than other peers at finding jobs.
Ferrell, who has degrees from Harvard University and Yale University, started his career as a classroom teacher through Teach For America. He also worked with several education companies before taking the helm at APDS.
Last year, APDS partnered with Baltimore resident Chris Wilson, a former inmate and author of the book, The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison, to a Life of Purpose, to develop an interactive online course to help incarcerated people. The course — which builds upon key lessons from Wilson’s 2019 book — was run as a pilot at Rikers Island in New York. APDS proposes to deliver the course for free to incarcerated individuals elsewhere.
