Education - Rethink Capital Partners

Unlocking human potential through education technology.

About Rethink Education

Our mission is to unlock the full human potential of people who have been marginalized or underserved by investing in impactful education technology companies. We want to help people thrive in their work, their personal lives, and their civic engagement.

We focus on helping those who are low income, cognitively or physically different, deskless workers and the underemployed, the incarcerated, refugees and other immigrants, the elderly, and those who experience persecution because of their race, gender, sexuality, or any other aspect of their identities.

OUR STRATEGY

We seek to transform the way that people learn. Learning experiences need to become less passive, less rigid, and less shame-based, and more inclusive, more joyful, more meaningful, and more centered on the needs of learners.

We believe that education at every level should combine the joy and playfulness of preschool, the intense collaborative experimentation of a hackathon, and the deep, self-guided exploration of a doctoral program.

We are looking for companies that can have a transformative effect on calcified institutions, communities, and value systems. For over a decade, we have invested in tools and technologies that increase access to learning, leading to profound change for individuals, families, and communities.

We seek companies that partner with school systems, employers, and large education operators to deliver solutions at scale that help ensure the best resources serve all students, regardless of socioeconomic background. Through our close partnership with CEOs, thought leaders, and other key stakeholders, we are working to change the educational landscape.

We typically enter companies at the Seed and Series A stage, or occasionally at the Pre-Seed or Series B stage.

Our Investment Verticals

Our Impact

learners served in 2023

of portfolio companies with female CEO/co-founder

0 %

low-income learners served in 2023

of portfolio companies with a BIPOC CEO/co-founder

0 %

See our latest impact report.

Meet the Team

Matt Greenfield

Founder & Managing Partner

Matt Greenfield is a pioneer investor in EdTech with 25+ years of experience in venture capital and angel investing and deep industry connections. He is eager to transform education to be more joyful, collaborative, and purposeful, which he strives to achieve through his role as founder and managing partner of Rethink Education.

Matt has a robust background in entrepreneurship and education as the co-founder of Rethink First, a $100m ARR company serving 3 million neurodivergent learners a year, and former English professor at Bowdoin College and the City University of New York (CUNY). During his time as a professor, Matt served on a committee overseeing admissions, helped launch an interdisciplinary learning community program for first-year students, taught in a teacher preparation program, and led graduate courses in literature to teachers from the New York City Public Schools.

Matt is a board member of Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and several Rethink Education portfolio companies including Stellic, CareAcademy, GetSetUp, Major League Hacking, Ignite Reading, and NoRedInk.

Matt received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in English from Yale University, where he won five academic prizes and fellowships from the Mellon and Whiting Foundations and served on the editorial board of the Yale Journal of Law and the Humanities.

Andre Bennin

Managing Partner

Andre (“Dre”) Bennin is a Managing Partner of Rethink Education where he is a key player in both firm strategy and leading investments, actively shaping the portfolio, positioning, and thesis. Dre brings 10+ years of venture and private equity investing experience to the team, formerly serving as Managing Partner of Juvo Ventures and as Managing Director of Corporate Development at Strada Education Network. While at Strada, Dre led $580mm of investments and acquisitions, served on the boards of Authess, Cell-Ed, BridgeEdu, and Roadtrip Nation, and was an advisory board member of Kenzie Academy and GSV Ventures.

Dre originally joined Strada in 2013 as Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to the CEO, playing an integral role in the organization’s transition and mission development. Before rejoining Strada as Managing Director in 2018, Dre pursued a role in the public sector as Senior Operations Director for the Office of the Governor of Indiana, Eric J. Holcomb, where he supervised all workforce training and economic development agencies for the state and spearheaded the creation of its $250mm investment vehicle, the Next Level Fund.

Dre was recognized in Savoy Magazine’s 2020 Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America. He earned his bachelor’s degree in molecular biology and his Juris Doctorate from Brigham Young University. Dre is a West African immigrant, born in Côte d’Ivoire to two Ghanaian parents and grew up in Alexandria, VA. He currently resides in Indianapolis, IN with his three children. Dre is a native French and Twi speaker.

Amy Nelson

Managing Partner

Amy Nelson serves as Managing Partner of Rethink Education where she oversees the firm’s operations, strategy, pipeline and portfolio management, and serves on the investment committee. Amy transitioned into a full-time role with the Rethink Education team after three years as Chief Strategy Officer for Rethink Capital Partners, where she led growth and operations across the platform. Amy also sits on the IC for Rethink Food and has been a strategic partner on Rethink Community.

Prior to Rethink, Amy spent seven years at Venture For America (VFA), an organization that selects, trains, and supports the next generation of entrepreneurs, including four years serving as CEO. In her seven years with VFA, Amy helped more than 1,200 recent college graduates launch entrepreneurial careers, directly supported the launch of 120+ businesses, and made direct investments into 40+ pre-seed startups.

Amy has also held business development positions at B Lab, Relief International, and Cambodian Children’s Fund. Amy sits on the boards of the Vivvi, Impact Capital Managers Institute, West Harlem Innovation Network, Partners for Justice, Generation Citizen, and Safe Haven Medical Outreach in Cambodia.

Amy is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College and NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Bridget Duru

Senior Associate

Bridget Duru is a senior associate at Rethink Education, focused on pipeline, deal sourcing, and thesis development, currently targeting our life skills investment vertical. She boasts a strong background in leading due diligence for private equity transactions in the education and consumer sectors during her tenure at EY-Parthenon.

Bridget brings an extensive network in venture capital and early-stage education, healthcare, and financial technologies to the team. She serves as the New York Co-Lead of the Emerging Venture Capital Association, is the founder of pre-partner EdTech investors group, and is a board observer of Rethink Education portfolio companies: Anthill and Vivvi. Bridget has been raising funds dedicated to advancing education since middle school.

She graduated magna cum lade from Brown University with a B.A. in Political Science and Gender Studies.

Monique Malcolm-Hay

Senior Associate

Monique Malcolm-Hay is a senior associate at Rethink Education, focused on deal sourcing, portfolio management, and fundraising support. An emerging AI connoisseur in the EdTech sector, Monique is spearheading Rethink Education’s partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation on responsible AI in education and is a frequent speaker on the topic at industry events like SOCAP.

Monique began her career in PwC’s Deals practice on the restructuring team before transitioning to join PwC’s workforce strategy consulting team, where she drove the firm’s AI x upskilling offering. She then joined the early team of Future Fit AI, where she loved supporting the 0 to 1 stage of company building. Prior to Rethink, Monique led Stanford GSB’s Impact Fund, directing early-stage investments with a focus on measurable social impact.

Trained as an accountant (CPA-equivalent), Monique holds an M.B.A. and M.A. in Education from Stanford University, and a B.S. in Business and Management from Aston University.

Board observer of Rethink Education portfolio companies: Brighthive and Voxy.

Michael Walden

Investment Committee Member

Michael Walden serves as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of Rethink Capital Partners, where he oversees the launch, development and operations of the Rethink Capital Partners venture strategies. Michael also serves as the President & Managing Partner of Rethink Community. Since joining the firm in 2011, he has led the development and launch of four Rethink Capital Partners strategies and developed the firm’s operating division. He is a member of the Investment Committee for Rethink Education, Rethink Impact, Rethink Community and Rethink Healthcare Real Estate.

Michael brings over 25 years of experience establishing, operating and growing businesses in a variety of industries. This includes operating positions in venture-funded growth companies in the technology and telecommunications sectors.

Michael began his career in Washington, D.C. serving on the legislative staff of U.S. Senator Arlen Specter. Mr. Walden received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Richmond.

Tammy Mank Wincup

Venture Partner

Tammy Wincup is a Venture Partner of Rethink Education, formerly serving as an Investment Committee Member for nearly four years. Tammy now serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Securly, a tech company developing student safety and wellness solutions that help school leaders and educators keep students safe, secure, and ready to learn.

Prior to that, Tammy served as an interim Chief Operating Officer at Get Well, President & Chief Commercial Officer of Revolution Foods, and the founding President of Protocol, a media company covering the power center of tech. Founded as a part of POLITICO Media Group and sold to Axel Springer Media in 2021, Tammy grew Protocol from a pre-launch idea to a dominant player in the tech media space with a growing editorial team supported by a thriving advertising model.

In 2019, Tammy was a Senior Advisor to The RISE Fund. The RISE Fund is a $2 billion global impact fund led by private equity firm TPG in collaboration with a group of renowned stakeholders including U2 lead singer Bono. During her time, Tammy led the go-to-market revenue strategy for a TPG portfolio company.

From 2010 to 2019, Tammy was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at EVERFI, the leading education technology company focused on using digital learning to teach learners of all ages critical skills. As COO, Tammy oversaw EVERFI’s 600 team members; led the development of national and global corporate partnerships; oversaw the development of EVERF’s digital learning technology platform; and spearheaded the implementation of that technology in over 21,000 K-12 schools and 1500 college campuses, and supporting the over 4,000 corporate customers that purchased the technology. Founded in 2008, EVERFI is a venture-backed company with investments from TPG, The RISE Fund, Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, Twitter Founder Evan Williams, and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt.

After September 11th, 2001, Tammy was appointed to the U.S. Department of State, where she helped develop and manage the Middle East Partnership Initiative, a $300 million fund focused on economic and education foreign assistance to the Middle East. In 2006, she refocused in the U.S. working with leading companies on growth business plans.

Early in her career, Tammy worked in South Africa and Egypt leading economic growth and democracy projects for Price Waterhouse’s International Strategy Group. She returned to the United States to run customer success for a technology start-up in San Francisco, and at Diamond Technology Partners, a public company focused on helping Fortune 500 companies innovate with technology.

Tammy is a Pahara Aspen Institute Fellow, a competitive program for leaders. She is also active on a number of education non-profit boards in Washington, D.C.

Michelle Dervan

Venture Partner

Michelle Dervan is a Venture Partner of Rethink Education, formerly serving as a partner on the team and now the CEO of SkillsTrust, a Rethink Education portfolio company working to simplify pay transparency compliance and culture.

Michelle was a Director of Strategic Partnerships at Pearson Education where she focused on sourcing and structuring partnership deals with large and small tech companies. She previously held a number of education, EdTech and economic development roles at Enterprise Ireland, an Irish government agency.

Michelle holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in European Studies, French and Russian from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

Our Portfolio

For over a decade, we have built an inspirational portfolio of companies run by a diverse group of founders and CEOs.

Facilitates the ongoing professional and personal development of Arab teachers through distance learning solutions.

Breaking barriers and healing young minds with accessible, inclusive and comprehensive mental healthcare.

Builds AI tools that help overworked K-12 teachers fight burnout and save time.

Intelligent platform to optimize student enrollment and retention in real-time.

Realistic work assignments to show hiring managers who can excel at the job from day one.

The best-in-class online education platform that transforms the way we train essential caregivers.

Talent Pipeline Data. Delivered.

Acquired

Training aspiring health coaches and enabling existing coaches to expand their practice areas with focus on practical skills.

Lightens the mental load of family schedule management and task delegation.

Every child deserves to read at grade level.

A stealth startup upskilling frontline workers and unlocking opportunities for them.

Provides virtual small group reading intervention to children with indications of dyslexia or other significant reading difficulties.

With PeerTeach, every student gets 1-on-1 help from a peer.

Low interest education loan providers for students' education, career, and skills development.

The ultimate leadership toolkit designed to help managers understand what makes their employees tick.

Identifies the right academic experts in 24 hours to help organizations build and grow.

Full time jobs for part-time workers.

The new way to job search.

Partners with lenders to optimize student loan repayment plans, enabling clients to achieve their homeownership aspirations and other financial goals.

Talent software for the deskless workforce.

Futureproof your workforce through education.

Getting EV charging stations and people back to work!

Helping purposeful brands drive equitable career outcomes through mentorship.

Connecting African digital designers with U.S. companies for remote work.

Powering access to real-world coding experiences and world-class tech companies.

A live, accredited, virtual high school.

A talent solutions technology company creating data science competitions, assessments and training.

GetSetUp is on a mission to help those over 55 learn new skills, connect with others, and unlock new life experiences.

Academic Sharing Platform for Higher Ed students to take classes across institutions.

Innovative "fee-for-service" model for OPMs (online program management).

Exceptional child care and early learning for today's families.

Innovative technology to upskill and empower language learners for the jobs of the future.

Empowering innovative institutions with student-centered technology.

AI-powered reading coach on a mission to help every student become a motivated and masterful reader.

Acquired

The digital forms, payments and communication platform for connecting schools and parents.

Deploys live learning at scale to power behavior change, human connection and continuous growth.

Sharing data responsibly, securely, and ethically is a challenge.

The smart way to launch your college career.

Acquired

Next generation of standardized testing.

Addressing training and employment challenges in the healthcare industry.

Health and wellness education platform helping students thrive in the world.

An online learning platform that teaches job-critical software skills through interactive project-based learning and real-world simulations.

Revolutionizing access to 360° VR learning experiences.

Helping higher ed institutions to improve retention and graduation rates through tech-enabled mentorship programs.

Acquired

Creating greater price and value transparency in higher education.

Engagement platform that makes it easy for colleges and businesses to start and measure conversations that drive action at scale.

Helping employers provide tuition-free education, skilling, and career mobility to their workforce.

Partnering with colleges to provide a virtual learning center for students, including a range of interventions that help students to stay on track.

Acquired

Real-time formative assessment and student response system for digital classrooms.

Helping students to learn 3D design skills in an engaging way using AR and VR.

Acquired

Enterprise training program translating important work knowledge into lessons that accelerate productivity.

A platform where people can start infant and toddler programs and preschools out of their homes.

Acquired

Reimagining higher education for the tech sector.

Acquired

Building businesses transforming higher education.

Acquired

A micro-learning platform designed to help employees retain information needed to perform well on the job.

AI-powered text messaging solution that reinvents school-to-family communication.

Preparing students for entry-level sales roles at tech companies through virtual training and mentorship.

Refining real-world skills through short online courses for those in the creative and digital industry.

Acquired

Virtual assistant for independent educations and tutors.

Enabling teachers and education professionals to create smart, flexible master schedules.

Acquired

Bringing coding to your students through the most engaging curriculum and learning environment.

Acquired

A Continuing Education Program Manager (CEPM) for the world’s leading universities.

Improving K-12 students' grammar by personalizing content to engage each student.

Online learning programs that enhance student-faculty engagement, lower costs and leverage opportunities for collaboration.

Acquired

MissionU offers a one-year program that gives students the skills and experience needed to launch a successful career.

The world's most robust labor market analytics guiding businesses, educators, and communities through complex talent and workforce challenges.

Acquired

Online training focused on skill development in software, IT administration and web security.

Acquired

Global education provider that applies the science of learning to create innovative solutions to improve education outcomes around the world.

Acquired

Partnering with top colleges and universities to bring their degree programs and courses online.

Patented digital learning platform creating highly engaging and effective personalized English courses at scale using leveled content from everyday media sources.

Acquired

Offering affordable, self-paced, high quality online general education courses for college credit.

Provides student loans to high-achieving, low-income students lacking access to traditional credit sources.

Acquired

Collecting, tracking and showcasing achievements through a digital portfolio to enable continued success.

Acquired

Helping general and neurodiverse populations live healthier, happier, more productive lives through solutions that change the face of behavioral health.

Acquired