The measurement layer for financial competence.Free solved supply. Nobody solved accountability. We own the layer the value migrated to.
Phase 1 · Angel round~18-mo runway to revenueRBF & institutional to follow
The insight
Free solved supply.
Nobody solved accountability.
What free did
Made content abundant
NGPF & EverFi gave away curriculum + training. The mandate's first question — "is there material?" — is answered.
What the mandate really asks
"Did they learn it? Prove it."
Free, fragmented worksheets can't show grade-by-grade mastery across K-12.
Where value went
The measurement layer
Content commoditized → value migrates to the scarce layer: adaptivity + measurement. That's our category.
We sell measurement into a market that just got mandated to produce results it can't yet measure.
Why now
39 states made our market mandatory.The clock is the race to own the data layer before the paid incumbents notice.
39
states require personal finance (26 standalone + 13 integrated)
7
in greenfield procurement for fall 2026
2026–30
rollout window — compelled demand
UT·VA
MO·TN
NC·OH
IA·MS·RI
Live · mature
★ Buying now
TX·PA
FL·DE
2026–27
Once a district standardizes during rollout, switching cost locks. First-mover on the measurement layer compounds.
The moat
Why the incumbents can't take this position.
Free — structurally barred
NGPF · EverFi
Nonprofit funded to be free / bank-sponsored for brand. Neither can become paid & accountability-grade without breaking their model. Counter-positioning.
Paid — the real threat
i-Ready · Renaissance · PowerSchool
They own the buyer + data and could add a module. We win on timing (too small for them now), FinLit-specific engine, and speed. Likely exit: they acquire us.
What compounds
The data asset
K-12 longitudinal mastery data → switching loses the through-line. Real, growing lock-in. Patent is secondary.
Market · TAM
TAM — the core mandate states.Every public student in a state that requires personal finance.
Standalone-course states (27 + DC) = 31.7M K-12 students · NCES ELSI 2024-25
All of K-12
31.7Mstudents ×$10–15=$317–475M
The full K-12 platform opportunity (whole journey, K through 12).
High school only (9–12)
9.97Mstudents ×$10–15=$100–150M
The directly mandated population (the HS graduation course).
Sources: NCES ELSI 2024-25 + CEE 2026 (the sourced ledger, school source proof/06). 27 standalone-course states + DC · 31.7M K-12 · HS 9.97M (× $10–15 blended). Every figure traces to a Ref code.
Market · SAM
SAM — the winnable large districts.~628 districts ≥10K students across the mandate states — the accounts we can actually land.
628 large districts = 211 enterprise (≥25K) + 417 medium (10–25K)
Enterprise (≥25K) @ $15/student
211districts (≥25K students)·$15/student
211 districts · e.g. a ~37K-student district ≈ $555K.
Standard (10–25K) @ $12/student
417districts (10–25K students)·$12/student
417 mid-size districts — accessible price, faster close.
Full SAM ≈ $252M (211 enterprise @ $15 + 417 medium @ $12) · SOM: 67 districts / $7M ARR by Yr 5 (~11% of large districts) — the ramp every number traces to. The 8 priority states (FL·TX·NC·GA·VA·CO·PA·DE) anchor the near-term pipeline.
District counts: NCES CCD + state DOEs (2023–25). Basis: enterprise 25K+ @ $15/student (211 districts) + medium 10–25K @ $12/student (417 districts) = 628 large districts · $252M SAM; SOM 67 districts / $7M ARR Yr 5 (~11%).
Market · SOM
SOM — time-phased district capture.How many of the 628 districts we win, and the ARR it produces.
Year 1
~7districts=~$0.2M
~$29K avg realized/district — pilots ramp mid-year (five-year plan Y1).
Year 3
~33districts=~$2.3M
~1% of SAM $ · maturing to full K-12.
Year 5
~67districts=~$7M
~11% of the 628 SAM districts.
Capture grows ~1% → ~5% → ~11% of addressable districts over 5 years. Full SAM ceiling = 628 districts · $252M (if every large district bought).
Pricing & unit economics
Two tiers. 71–87% gross margin.Margin is never the constraint — go-to-market velocity is.
| Tier / deal | Price/student | Gross margin | Avg deal (ACV) | CAC | Payback | LTV : CAC |
|---|
| Enterprise district (≥25K) · 25K students | $15 | 84% | $375K | $25K | ~1 mo | 50 : 1 |
| Standard district (<25K) · 5K students | $10 | 76% | $50K | $10K | ~3 mo | 15 : 1 |
| First land · one HS course · 3K students | $10 | 80% | ~$30K | $20K | ~10 mo | ~5 : 1 |
Price for adoption, not margin: dropping a small district $10→$7 costs only ~9 margin points. The economics are excellent if we can acquire — acquisition is the bet.
Assumptions: COGS ~$2/student · 5-yr lifetime @ ~88% retention (≈4× annual gross profit). Pricing benchmarked vs i-Ready ($6–30), IXL ($5–10), free incumbents ($0).
The ask · Use of funds
Phase 1 · The angel roundA straight investment — ~18 months of runway to reach and prove revenue, default-alive even at $0. Terms in conversation.
$750K
18-mo runway
~$40K/mo
CategoryShareTotal/mo
Team / Opsfounder · senior engineer · 2 commission reps · payroll60%$450K$25K/mo
Product & platformdashboards · Clever SSO · AI content · efficacy study16%$120K~$6.7K/mo
Customer acquisitionNGPF/ISTE conferences · pilot onboarding · CRM12%$90K$5K/mo
Infra · G&A · bufferhosting · LLM API · accounting · ~5% contingency8%$60K~$3.3K/mo
Legal / IPnon-provisional patent (2027) · district DPAs · investor agreements4%$30K~$1.7K/mo
Path to revenue
How many contracts → first revenue.
| Goal | Revenue / yr | Avg deal | Districts needed |
|---|
| Year 1 (realistic) — 6–11 mo sales cycles | ~$0.2M | ~$30K (HS course) | 5–10 |
| Cover our burn — revenue = $40K/mo cost | ~$480K | ~$30–50K | ~10–16 |
| 3-year target — deals grow to full K-12 | ~$2.3M | ~$70K (blended) | ~33 |
First deals are small (one HS course ≈ $30K) and grow as a district expands to the full K-12 journey (≈$150K). The $750K covers the gap until revenue + the next round catch up.
The plan
$750K angel → 18 months → proven revenue
that turns on Phase 2 (RBF).
Rung 1
5–10 paid districts
~$0.2M ARR
Rung 2
Measured CAC
payback < 12 mo
load-bearing wall
Rung 3
Efficacy signal
pre/post pilot study · proof it works
proves the reframe
Rung 4
Non-district LOI
bank/employer intent · demand beyond schools
Rung 5
Patent filed
non-provisional
Payoff
RBF turns on
revenue-based scale capital · institutional at scale (~yr 5)
$40K/mo · default-alivePhase 1 angel (M0) → 18 mo to proven revenue → Phase 2 RBF once revenue holds 3–6 mo → Phase 3 institutional at scale.
Founder
Jamal Reaves — built for public-sector go-to-market.Selling to schools & states IS government procurement. He's done it for 15 years.
▸15 years across federal & private sector — procurements $12K to $12B.
▸Administered the $12B Aerospace FFRDC contract; executed $1B/yr in awards for 7 consecutive years; 150+ customers.
▸70%+ competitive win rate; zero DCAA/DCMA audit findings; led cross-functional source-selection teams.
▸Active TS/SCI clearance · MBA · DAWIA Level II certified.
The usual edtech killer is public-sector GTM — RFPs, committee buying, multi-year contracts, compliance. That's this founder's core skill. Residual risk is product/pedagogy execution, not distribution.
Source: J. Reaves résumé (Nov 2025); roles at Northrop Grumman (2022–present) & U.S. Space Force / LA SFB (2015–2022).
The ask
Phase 1 · Straight angel investment.~18 months of runway. Default-alive. The load-bearing risk we're funding: proof it works. Terms in conversation.
The market
$317–475M TAM
27 states + DC · $252M SAM (628 districts) · ~$2.3M SOM yr 3 → ~$7M yr 5.
What $750K buys
The proof
Proof it works (efficacy) + schools pay (~7 districts · ~$0.2M ARR). That proof earns the first non-school LOI — the same engine, beyond schools. Patent filed.
The return
Angel → RBF → Institutional
RBF once revenue holds 3–6 mo (repaid from revenue, 1.3–1.5× cap); institutional at scale.
The outlook · 5-year trajectory
Angel → RBF → Institutional —then we raise only to go faster, never to survive.
$0NowPhase 1 · Angel ~$750K
$0.2MYr 1Revenue proven → RBF opens
$2.3MYr 3Phase 2 · RBF scaling
$7MYr 5+profit · Phase 3 institutional optional
At ~$4–4.5M ARR (Yr 4) revenue crosses the cost base — default-alive by choice. Every raise after RBF is an accelerant on a profitable engine, not oxygen. ARR grounded in the district SOM (Yr 5: 67 districts ≈ 11% of the 628 SAM districts).
Beyond Reaves Academy · the same engine, three more markets
One substrate, four products.Reaves Academy proves the engine; these ride it. Figures are modeled, founder-ratified 2026-07-13 — sized honestly, staged honestly.
Adulting Academy · life skills, 18–29
$13–19B TAM
Built, pre-App-Store. SAM ~$80M · SOM $0.5–0.75M ARR yr 5 · LTV:CAC 2–3:1 · near-zero infra (local-first).
MarketSapien · trading education
$1.4–1.9B TAM
Tools live, pre-scale. SAM $300–400M · SOM $1–2M ARR · ACV $120–180 · LTV:CAC ~3:1.
RLL City · agent-fleet visibility
$0.7B→$4.6B TAM
Demo stage, pre-revenue — stated plainly. SAM ~$270M NA · SOM $1.5–2.5M (40–60 × $30K ACV) · B2B churn ~10%/yr.
Hiring pattern holds portfolio-wide: Reaves Academy's 1 sales + 1 eng template; satellites get fractional FTEs on revenue triggers, never calendar hires. Ops stay local-first — the margin structure is the moat.