EdVisorly raises $13.3M to automate college transfers

Key Takeaways

• EdVisorly raised $13.3M Series A led by Breachway Capital to automate back-office university admissions workflows
• The platform serves over 100 colleges and has helped 250,000+ students navigate credit transfers
• Only 15% of community college transfer students complete a bachelor's degree within six years

EdVisorly has raised $13.3 million in Series A funding to expand its AI platform that automates the messy administrative work behind college credit transfers. Breachway Capital led the round, with participation from U.S. News & World Report, Lumina Foundation, Strada Education Foundation, Motley Fool Ventures, and others. The raise brings EdVisorly's total funding to roughly $22 million.

The Los Angeles-based startup targets a specific pain point: community college students trying to transfer to four-year universities often lose credits, money, and time because no one can tell them upfront which courses will count. EdVisorly's platform reads transcripts, matches credits against university requirements, and recalculates GPAs automatically. The goal is to eliminate guesswork before students ever speak to an admissions counselor.

Why the transfer process stays broken

About 10.5 million students attend community colleges in the U.S. Over 80% say they intend to transfer to a four-year school. Fewer than 25% actually do. Of those who manage it, only 15% complete a bachelor's degree within six years, compared to roughly 60% of students who start at four-year institutions.

The bottleneck is administrative. Every university has its own rules for which credits transfer and how they map to degree requirements. Historically, a human registrar reviewed every course on every transcript. With thousands of potential course equivalencies across the country, the process bogs down. Students wait weeks or months to learn their credits didn't transfer, forcing them to retake classes and spend more money.

Founder Manny Smith knows this world from the outside. His parents had no college credits. His family couldn't afford tuition. A sports scholarship to the U.S. Air Force Academy was the only reason he attended college at all. After eight years of active duty building satellites and software for the Air Force and Space Force, Smith looked at transfer success rates and saw something absurd: students had better odds of earning a bachelor's degree through a military academy than through community college.

“You have a higher chance of success of attaining a bachelor's degree by pursuing a military academy than if you go to any community college. That didn't really make sense to me.”

— Manny Smith, CEO of EdVisorly

How EddyAI handles the back office

EdVisorly's core product is EddyAI, an engine that automates repetitive tasks in admissions and enrollment. Students upload transcripts. The system reads their courses, compares them against a university's equivalency rules, and outputs an unofficial credit evaluation. Before applying, a student can see exactly how their credits stack up, what the degree will cost, and how many semesters remain.

On the university side, registrars use the same technology to process official transfer credits. They can build new credit-matching rules without manually reviewing each course. Smith emphasized that the software doesn't decide who gets accepted. It handles the tedious paperwork that slows down staff.

The next iteration, according to Smith, will organize all equivalency data so there's no mystery about whether credits will transfer. That's a large ambition. The number of transferable credits and courses across U.S. institutions is effectively infinite.

Traction and customers

EdVisorly counts more than 100 colleges, universities, and higher education systems as customers. The list includes Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Connecticut, the University of Massachusetts, and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. The company says it has helped over 250,000 students since launch.

The business model is B2B SaaS. EdVisorly sells subscriptions directly to higher education institutions. Smith said this round marks a significant valuation step-up from previous tranches, though he didn't disclose the exact figure.

Edtech funding is still down

EdVisorly's raise comes during a lean period for education startups. Venture funding to edtech companies peaked near $20 billion in 2021. Through the first half of 2026, global edtech and education startups have raised just under $1.8 billion, per Crunchbase data. That's below the $2.5 billion raised in the first half of last year, though slightly above the $1.4 billion raised in the second half of 2025.

The pullback makes EdVisorly's round notable. Investors are being selective, and the participation of mission-driven funders like Lumina Foundation and Strada Education Foundation signals alignment between profit motive and social impact. Transfer students are disproportionately first-generation, low-income, or from underrepresented backgrounds. They're exactly the population that loses the most when the system stays opaque.

What happens next

Smith founded EdVisorly in 2019 while pursuing an MBA at UC Berkeley. The company has spent five years building institutional relationships and proving the technology works. This round is about scale: more universities, more students, more data to refine credit-matching rules.

The question is whether EdVisorly can become the default infrastructure layer for transfer credit evaluation. That would require near-universal adoption across community colleges and four-year universities. It's a high bar. But the underlying bet is sound: if you make the transfer process predictable, more students will attempt it, complete it, and earn degrees. That's good for students, good for universities, and eventually good for EdVisorly's revenue.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does EdVisorly do?

EdVisorly automates back-office workflows in college admissions, specifically transcript evaluation and credit matching for transfer students. Its AI reads transcripts, compares courses against university requirements, and calculates how credits will transfer.

How much funding has EdVisorly raised?

EdVisorly has raised $22 million total, including a $13.3 million Series A led by Breachway Capital.

Why is the college transfer process so difficult?

Each university has unique rules for which credits transfer. Historically, registrars reviewed every course manually. With thousands of course equivalencies nationwide, the process is slow and opaque, leaving students uncertain about whether their credits will count.

Who are EdVisorly's customers?

EdVisorly sells to higher education institutions via B2B subscriptions. Customers include Carnegie Mellon, University of Connecticut, University of Massachusetts, and Cal Poly Pomona.

What is the success rate for community college transfer students?

Only 15% of community college transfer students complete a bachelor's degree within six years, compared to about 60% of students who start at four-year institutions.

Source: Crunchbase News / Mary Ann Azevedo