Lingo, an edtech firm founded by former NASA aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, has raised $2.3 million in a seed round, with backers including Washington, D.C.-based 1863 Ventures and Pinnacle Private Ventures, the family office of former Raymond James Financial Services executive Sean McCurry.
With Arlington, Va.-based Lingo, Bowe — a woman of color — has sought to promote STEM learning. Her previous startup, STEMBoard, is among the fastest-growing companies, earning a place in the Inc. 5000 last year. Later this year, she is due to become the first black woman to fly into space, after bagging a seat on Blue Origin’s New Shepard space launch vehicle.
Hands-on Kits
Lingo said the funding would help it expand its hands-on, project-based coding kits and curriculum, which include lessons for students aged 13 and up in fields such as artificial intelligence, space systems and environmental monitoring. Lingo’s programs are being implemented by partners such as General Dynamics Information Technology, Siemens Healthineers, Leidos and Howard University.
“This funding round highlights Lingo’s potential to reshape the future of STEM education,” said McCurry, the founder of Pinnacle Private Ventures. “Our investment reflects a deep commitment to not only pursuing financial returns but also to creating meaningful social impact through education and fostering diversity within the tech sector,” he added.
Turning Point
According to a 2020 article in Entrepreneur magazine, a perfect score on a math exam after a night of partying changed Bowe’s life. “I really think that you should go home and think about doing something differently with your life,” a professor is believed to have told her after seeing her math score.
Bowe did — beginning to realize she could set much higher ambitions. She went on to study aerospace and space systems engineering at the University of Michigan, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees, before first rejecting and then accepting an offer from NASA.
Even as she worked at the space agency, Bowe explored her interests in education, finding “how interested the kids were in engineering,” and creating a “shadow day for students so they could see what engineering was all about.” After a nearly seven-year stint at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Bowe started STEMboard, which initially executed engineering contracts for federal and private clients before turning to creating educational programs for disadvantaged students.
Bowe started Lingo with the goal of building basic hardware and software kits that allowed young students access to key engineering and technology.
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Venture Firm for the Minority
1863 Ventures, based in Washington, D.C., is a Black-led nonprofit business accelerator and venture capital fund for minority entrepreneurs. Founded in 2016 by Melissa Bradley, the firm emerged from Project 500, which aimed to identify 500 D.C.-based Black entrepreneurs over three years. 1863 Ventures focuses on helping so-called “New Majority Founders” — individuals, including Blacks and Latinos who have been historically underestimated. It aims to create $100 billion in new wealth by 2030.
So far, 1863 Ventures has aided over 3,200 entrepreneurs whose businesses have generated raised over $35 million in equity, over $300 million in revenue and created 2,000 jobs.
The vision of creating $100 billion in new wealth by 2030 is “not just about financial milestones but about uplifting communities, changing lives, and shaping a more inclusive and equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Bradley, who has degrees in finance from Georgetown University and an MBA from American University’ Kogod School of Business, has said.
