Entrepreneurial Spirit / April 3, 2018

Alumnus Jon Chapman MBA ’07 Talks Raising $190M for His EdTech Startup EverFi on Bootstrapped

The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship produces Bootstrapped, a podcast featuring founders, investors and serial entrepreneurs. The podcast is hosted by Elana Fine, Executive Director of the Dingman Center, and Joe Bailey, Associate Research Professor at the Smith School. Each episode brings a different startup story to life with special guests offering advice and lessons learned on topics that range from fundraising and marketing to team formation and customer acquisition.

On this episode of Bootstrapped, we interviewed alumnus Jon Chapman MBA ’07, Co-Founder and President of EverFi, a leading EdTech company. Jon and his co-founders launched EverFi during the recession of 2008, when they identified an opportunity to teach young adults critical skills such as financial literacy through a gamified educational platform. EverFi’s strategy allows private sector entities ranging from banks like BB&T to professional sports leagues like the NHL and NFL to private label EverFi’s product and partner with EverFi to run educational programs in communities they care about.  In this episode, Jon details how EverFi focused on understanding their clients as well as their end consumers, and how EverFi went from a bootstrapped company in 2008 to raising $190 M in a Series D round in 2017.

Jon has spent most of his career in the education industry working multiple positions during his 11 year tenure at Kaplan, Inc. Jon received his MBA in Entrepreneurial Studies from the University of Maryland in 2007 and went on to co-found EverFi in 2008 where he now runs the Global Partnerships Division and is responsible for all product development, design and strategy involving some of EverFi’s largest scaled partnerships across North America. 

To listen to this episode and gain further insights into the startup world, subscribe to Dingman Bootstrapped on iTunes or download the episodes on the Dingman Center website.

Media Contact

Greg Muraski
Media Relations Manager
301-405-5283  
301-892-0973 Mobile
gmuraski@umd.edu 

About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

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