Scholly scores again
Startup PHL is going back to Scholly with more support for its scholarship-finding app.
Sometimes, it's a good thing when it rains . . . and pours. Certainly for the gang at Scholly, the Philadelphia startup that developed an app giving students a fast and easy way to find scholarships for college.
Earlier this week, Scholly founder Christopher Gray presented and won a $100,000 investment (convertible to a stock payback) from investor Steve Case in the "Rise of the Rest" pitch competition here.
Today Mayor Michael Nutter added to Scholly's growth potential, announcing that the Startup PHL Angel Fund has likewise made a $100,000 bet on the project. It's the ninth investment in two years ($1,149,997 total) made to a Philly startup by the Angel Fund, a partnership of PIDC (Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation) and First Round Capital.
"The success of the Startup PHL Initiative continues to showcase Philadelphia as a top competitor in the startup community," said John Grady, President of PIDC. "PIDC is committed to investing in businesses like Scholly that not only serve Philadelphia's economy but supports priorities like education."
Dreamed up and first successfully used when he was applying to college (Drexel won him), Gray's search tool has already scored lots of national attention and endorsement. It's won on ABC's "Shark Tank" show, as one of Inc. Magazine's Top College Startups, in Under Armour's Cupid's Cup Competition as well as Drexel's Incubator competition. Since its formal launch in May 2013 with co-founders Bryson Alef and Nick Pirollo. Schooly has been endorsed by states and schools and partnered with the White House's My Brothers Keeper Initiative to provide the app to 275K students across America each year. And the results has been terrific - helping students to find and score at least $20 million in scholarships "which in some cases would have otherwise gone begging," Gray said.