Limerick edu-tech company to receive €50,000 from SEI

jumpAgrade has been selected as one of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) Scale Partners for 2020 - 2022

Pádraic Hogan and David Neville, co-founders of jumpAgrade believe every young person should be enabled to fulfil their potential, regardless of location, ability or socio-economic background. Picture: Mark Stedman

A Limerick company which aims to reduce the education inequality gap has been selected as one of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI)’s Scale Partners for 2020 - 2022.

jumpAgrade, an online grinds platform which helps students prepare for the Junior and Leaving Certificate exams by matching them with teachers who set practice questions and give personalised feedback will receive €50,000 in direct funding to “grow their services and impact.” 

In addition to the direct funding, SEI said jumpAgrade will also receive support to raise a further €200,000 and “bespoke non-financial supports” over the course of the two-year programme.

Co-founded by David Neville and Pádraic Hogan in 2017, the pair’s vision is that every young person is enabled to fulfil their potential, “regardless of their location, ability or socio-economic background.” 

The edu-tech platform saw a 500% increase in demand for its services from 2019 to 2020 following the first Covid-19 lockdown in March. The company aims to provide 20,000 young people with personalised tuition over the next five years.

jumpAgrade starts at €125/month for one subject with a 20% discount offered on each additional subject. 

David Neville, co-founder of jumpAgrade, said: “This partnership means a huge amount to us. SEI was one of the first organisations to believe in us and back us when we won a place on the SEI Awards Programme in 2019.” 

“We look forward to working with our friends in SEI as we continue to scale nationally.” 

SEI’s Scale Partnerships support social entrepreneurs who they believe have the potential to transform Ireland’s approach to the social problem they are trying to solve.

In addition to jumpAgrade, MyMind, which offers an online counselling service, and Mobility Mojo, an independent global rating system for hotel accessibility, were also selected as Scale Partners for 2020-2022.

SEI said these three social entrepreneur-led organisations are “tackling the social issues of mental health, inequality in education supports, and lack of access to suitable accommodation for people with mobility impairments.” 

Since SEI’s foundation in 2004, it has supported more than 375 social entrepreneurs including FoodCloud, Pieta House and the Irish Men’s Sheds Association.