FUTURELY, a digital career counseling platform that uses techniques developed by Harvard guidance psychologists, closes a $1.5M investment round, led by the members of Italian Angels for Growth together with Angels4Women, the result of the agreement signed a few months ago by the two associations in support of female entrepreneurship, and other private investors, including Diego Piacentini, Riccardo Zacconi and Fabio Mondini.
FUTURELY is a startup founded by two young female entrepreneurs, Elisa Piscitelli and Mariapaola Testa, who have earned a place on Forbes Italy's list of Under 30 of 2021. They began working on this project when Elisa was finishing her master's degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Mariapaola was beginning her MBA at Harvard, after having both studied at the Politecnico di Milano and pursued careers in top strategic consulting firms. Harvard selects particular student ideas and supports them with various resources - Orientami (FUTURELY) was selected by both I-Lab and the Rock Accelerator.
Thirty percent of college students are dissatisfied with their choice and 20% change their address after their first year, with long-term repercussions on employment, talent and professional development, and on the capacity for innovation. The message is clear: students need guidance in making a confident, informed choice of college.
FUTURELY is a digital orientation path that guides students in their choice of college and in the realization of their future by developing self-awareness, understanding of the admissions process, curiosity, and courage. It starts with a journey of self-knowledge - passions, interests, skills - and ends with a structured and complete presentation showcasing the school of their choice. The platform utilizes several digital tools accessible asynchronously and students are guided through exercises assigned weekly. Among the tools used are interactive, mobile and desktop exercises, videos and webinars, one-on-one interviews with experts, self-exploration assessments, customizable documents created by the Futurely team, and useful external resources. A certificate of participation is given upon completion of the course.
"We are thrilled to have created a community, ‘by kids for kids’, at such a challenging time when Covid and social isolation have challenged young people. Our digital platform for university and ITS orientation accompanies schools and students with digital, structured, guided, personalized courses for self-knowledge and possible careers. The addition of new partners has allowed us to build a team of excellence and reach hundreds of high schools and thousands of students, both in Italy and in the United States. Our mission is to help young people aim high, growing in awareness, curiosity and courage, thus contributing to the future of our country." - says Elisa Piscitelli, co-founder and CEO of FUTURELY.
"We are very pleased to participate and contribute to FUTURELY, a start-up made for kids and that speaks directly to them. We strongly believe in the economic and social potential of the initiative and in the excellence of the team leading the project and we will continue to support them in their development and growth" - "FUTERELY is part of the EdTech sector, a trend that is revolutionizing education and training with new approaches, digitalization and AI" - say Champions Silvia Pugi (IAG and A4W) and Diana Vaturi (IAG) for the investment in FUTURELY.
"We are very pleased with this investment in support of Futurely, a female team that has demonstrated seriousness and competence in intercepting the needs of young people, with two founders from the highest level of educational background. A project whose peculiarity is also given by the international vision, operating between the United States and Italy. This is a first investment that we are pleased to share with Angels4Women, as the beginning of a fruitful collaboration in favour of female entrepreneurship," says Carlo Tassi, President of Italian Angels for Growth.
"The co-investment in FUTURELY by Angels4Women together with the partners of IAG represents an important concrete step that goes to implement and strengthen the partnership between the two groups of business angels united to support innovative female entrepreneurship. We believed in FUTURELY first of all because the determination and preparation of Elisa and Mariapaola immediately convinced us, demonstrating the importance of a strong female leadership, and because we think it is essential to support young people who invest in the training of other young people, drawing heavily on the skills that have been created and developed between Italy and the USA" - Lorenza Morandini, Managing Director and Board Member Angels4Women.