Seedfunders Opportunity Fund invests in College Thriver

For Immediate Release 

ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA  — Seedfunders, the early-stage investment firm headquartered in St Petersburg, Florida has announced an investment of $50,000 in College Thriver through the recently developed Opportunity Fund. College Thriver’s mission is to help provide low-income/first-generation students fair access to America’s most intense College programs and succeed at the highest levels, while keeping students in direct alignment with institutional goals and processes.

College Thriver is a nonprofit organization that transforms the lives of minority, low-income, and under-served male and female students through a fully integrated and interactive online program. The platform provides students with access to affordable solutions for college admissions, student housing, transportation, counseling, and scholarships. 

Founder Shawntia Lee is a Higher Education Consultant with a passion to provide the necessary tools to help minority parents and their aspiring students, who have a desire to attend college, yet lack financial and emotional resources. She believes through this fellowship’s success, the organization will continuously provide college and career readiness connections and resources to the students who are systematically faced with racism.

College Thriver’s go-to-market strategy includes an annual subscription-based service marketed to local school districts, with upgrades for consulting, maintenance, and tech support. They plan to offer a pilot program to test features and build the subscription pricing based on the number of students and administrators that utilize the platform. Seedfunders Opportunity Fund board member, Geoff Keith stated “College Thriver will have the potential to make a  tremendous impact on disadvantaged young people in the community by connecting them with superior opportunities to succeed in getting a college education.”

The Seedfunders Opportunity Fund is a committed capital fund that empowers the Black entrepreneurial community in Florida through pre-seed stage investments in Black-owned startups. By filling the gap in available ‘friends and family’ stage investments and mentoring, Seedfunders will do a small part to elevate the entrepreneurial playing field weighted down by decades of systemic racism. 

The Fund continues to accept applications from majority black-owned startups. The Seedfunders Opportunity Fundis open to all accredited investors. The minimum investment is $5,000. For more information, contact Dave Chitester, Dave@Chitester.com. For information on applying for funding, please contact Jonah Hanowitz, Jonah@stpete.co 

About Seedfunders: 

Seedfunders was founded by Dave Chitester and Irv Cohen in St Petersburg, Florida, in 2017, with a mission to invest in pre-revenue technology companies throughout the state. In just over two years, the company made 24 investments in a wide range of technology startups. It also launched SeedfundersOrlando in 2019, as well as Seedfunders Miami this year. Collectively, there are now 44 partners in Seedfunders organizations.