We’re thrilled to share that Mentor Collective, the platform powering structured peer mentorship at scale, has raised $21M in a Series A led by Resolve Growth Partners, with reinvestment from Lumina Foundation. Mentor Collective has been part of the Emerge community since we joined its $3M round in 2019 – and this milestone is richly earned.
Founders Jackson Boyar and James Lu Morrissey started from a glaring inequity: the students most likely to leave university are the ones least likely to have someone in their corner who has done it before. Mentorship closes that gap, but only if it reaches everyone – and informal programmes never do. Mentor Collective gives institutions the infrastructure to match, train and support mentors systematically.
Now, their model is working at serious scale. In 2021, the platform created more than 83,000 mentorships – more than the previous six years combined – across 160+ institutional partners, with more than 50,000 mentors trained and 200,000 mentoring relationships formed since founding. The company doubled in size last year doing it.
Two details tell you everything you need to know about who these founders are. Alongside the Series A, Jackson and James recommitted to the mission for another five years. And Mentor Collective’s growth ceiling has usually been demand for its volunteer mentors outstripping what the team could deliver – a scaling problem born entirely of impact.
“Mentorship is the oldest education technology there is; what’s been missing is the means to give it to every student rather than just the lucky few. Jackson and the team have turned something universities always knew mattered into something they can actually deliver at scale. That’s how equity gaps close in practice. This mission is extremely close to our hearts at Emerge and we’re so proud of the real impact this company is creating for so many learners around the world.”
Mario, Emerge
The funding will expand the platform into new products and services, including workplace mentorship, and deepen the company’s research.
Congratulations, Jackson, James and team. Here’s to the next 200,000 relationships!
Featured in PR Newswire, TechCrunch
