High Alpha, Butler University Launch ClearScholar to Fuel Student Success through Mobile Engagement
Venture Studio Taps Veteran Academia Exec Jason Konesco to Lead New Company, Inks Innovation Partnership with Butler University to Bring Tech to Campus in Fall 2016
INDIANAPOLIS (June 13, 2016) - High Alpha, the nation’s leading enterprise cloud venture studio, announced today the launch of ClearScholar, a new cloud-based technology company aimed at improving student success in higher education through personalized mobile engagement.
Led by former Harrison College president and chief executive Jason Konesco and being developed in partnership with Butler University, the technology bridges the gap between the myriad of systems used to support colleges and universities and today’s mobile, ‘always-on’ student.
“Institutions increasingly struggle to engage students throughout their life-long relationship,” said Konesco, ClearScholar’s chief executive officer. “By bringing together High Alpha’s digital expertise and Butler’s leadership in student-centered education, ClearScholar will provide an entirely new way to improve engagement and fuel student success.”
The ClearScholar technology is expected to first appear on Butler University’s campus in Fall 2016 and will power a new mobile student experience. The initial solution is expected to provide students personalized news and information feeds, unified calendaring with tailored events, instructor- and university-driven polling, location-aware or emergency notifications and a secure mobile student identification. Insights from student interactions on ClearScholar will provide a never-before seen view into student engagement and provide leaders a new opportunity to target efforts to drive deeper engagement and increase student satisfaction, Konesco said.
“Innovation has become an important differentiator among universities, as we work to create learning experiences that enhance student engagement and success,” said James M. Danko, Butler University president. “Our active role in the development of ClearScholar is another example of Butler’s commitment to leadership in innovation and the student experience.”
Student engagement in higher education is one of the greatest challenges and opportunities institutions face in today’s mobile-first world, Konesco said. According to Pearson’s 2015 Student Mobile Device Survey, 86 percent of college students regularly use smartphones and 64 percent using a smartphone every week for school work. With 5 billion smartphones projected to be in the market by 2017, Konesco said the company sees a huge opportunity for ClearScholar to bring mobile engagement to higher education.
“Education is an important lever for transforming our economy, which is why we believe it is critically important to bring innovations like ClearScholar to market,” said Mike Fitzgerald, High Alpha partner. “Combining our unique partnership with Butler and Jason's decades of leadership we can deliver higher education a new mobile-first approach to engagement that drives student satisfaction and success.”
ClearScholar is expected to be generally available in late 2016, following an on-campus beta debut at Butler University. More information can be found at ClearScholar.com or on Twitter at @ClearScholar.
ClearScholar is the second company to launch from High Alpha since its founding in June 2015. The venture studio launched email signature marketing platform Sigstr in Aug. 2015 and has invested in a number of software as a service companies since its founding, including G2 Crowd, Narvar, TinderBox, CrowdRiff, TINYpulse and Lesson.ly.
Read the full press release and sign up to learn more about ClearScholar here.
