Edovo, a US-based developer of educational software for the incarcerated that counts enterprise software producer Twilio as an investor, has secured $9.8m in series A funding.
The series A round featured 30 investors including Kapor Capital, a subsidiary of Kapor Center for Social Impact, other non-profit philanthropic offices such as IDP Foundation, Evolve Foundation and Lumina Foundation, as well as Ekistic Ventures, Impact Engine and Sustain VC.
Edovo has created a digital learning service that encourages prisoners to acquire educational and vocational skills in support of their rehabilitation. They study on locked-down tablets and can unlock certificates or entertainment as rewards, and can access an instant messaging tool to contact their families.
The capital will be earmarked for product development as Edovo looks to increase its headcount in customer service, data analytics and engineering. It expects its user base to double to approximately 124,000 over the next year, CEO Brian Hill told Built in Chicago.
Twilio invested $250,000 in Edovo in February 2018, after the company had secured $2.2m in debt financing in March 2017, according to a securities filing.
Edovo closed $4.1m in equity funding in early 2016 according to two more regulatory filings, and Forbes identified Kapor Capital and Serious Change as investors in one of those rounds.