Giving Compass' Take:

• Edquity offers emergency funds for student support and provides other resources to students that need aid or relief. 

• How is your local school system supporting students in need? Could they benefit from a similar model of support?

• Learn about the success of micro-grants for students


Some of the biggest barriers to academic success have nothing to do with academics. Rather, they usually entail basic human needs. After all, it’s hard to do well in school when you’re hungry, or unable to get rest or go to class.

As it turns out, higher-ed institutions have emergency funds to offer temporary relief for students struggling with food, housing, transportation and other needs. But few know about this safety net and, if they do, applying for and receiving the money can be a tedious and lengthy process.

That’s what spurred David Helene to start Edquity in 2016, and its mission to make emergency fund disbursements more efficient has attracted some funding of its own. The Brooklyn, N.Y.-based startup has raised $2.4 million in a seed round led by ECMC Foundation. Other investors include the Omidyar Network, Spring Point Partners, the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, Michelson 20MM Foundation and WGU Labs, a research and investment incubator affiliated with Western Governors University.

To date, Edquity has raised about $4 million in investment capital, according to Helene, the company’s CEO.

The company’s flagship offering is an app that lets students apply for the emergency aid from their institution, which entails answering about a dozen questions about their situations. The app also offers what he describes as a “Yelp for emergency resources” that shows a map and reviews of local relief programs near campus.

Helene says the goal is to create a “digital one-stop shop where students can get streamlined access to emergency support. We do not intend to replace resources. We want to increase access to those resources.”

Read the full article about Edquity by Tony Wan at EdSurge.