Welcome to The Wire. Each month, we’ll deliver fresh insights into the world of learning, health, and work — combining news and data we’re tracking, perspectives from our team, and updates from our portfolio. Subscribe for the latest.

The school choice movement is humming along, as Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) expand across 18 states. The question is whether public education will help shape the landscape, or be shaped by it.

For all the talk about their deficits, districts have incredible assets: six billions of square feet of community space, trusted relationships with families, and expertise in serving diverse learners. What if they became the backbone of a more dynamic learning ecosystem?

Already, states like Utah and Texas are pioneering models where ESA dollars can flow to public programs. A new vision is emerging where districts coordinate transportation and specialized services, and offer flexible programming. New technologies make this possible, managing everything from enrollment and scheduling to resource sharing and progress tracking.

Our Partner Steve Kupfer charts out a future for public education that is more sustainable, equitable, and aligned with the diverse needs of families. This is the moment to build with public education, not around it.

From the portfolio

Latest deals

Having already helped over a million workers access flexible shifts, fast pay, telehealth and upskilling, WorkWhile is proving it’s possible for people to build work around their lives, not the other way around.

We’re excited to be part of WorkWhile’s $23 million Series B round, led by Rethink Impact alongside Khosla Ventures, Citi Impact Fund, GingerBread Capital and Illumen Capital. Reach first invested in the Series A in 2021. We couldn’t be more proud of their mission to uplift the 80 million Americans working hourly jobs. Read Fortune’s feature on the fundraise, and see all their open job positions.

Wins & news

Manifold and the Broad Institute are teaming up to eliminate data bottlenecks and manual analysis for researchers, so that they can focus on what matters most: scientific discovery.

From Norway to Northville, Michigan. Curipod co-founder and engineers visited Meads Mill Middle School to learn how students and teachers are using AI to spark engagement, collaboration, and inclusive participation.

The University of Louisville is partnering with Scout to provide student athletes with financial coaching and tools for lifelong independence, while helping the departments manage revenue sharing and cap management.

The FoodHealth Company has partnered with NielsenIQ to embed the FoodHealth Score into the industry’s data backbone, bringing nutrition transparency to every shelf, brand and dataset in America.

Superintendent Dr. Kinasha Brown, of Prairie Hills Elementary, shares how Paper’s high-impact tutoring program changed the course of one fifth-grader’s journey.

Slacking off

Stories we’re buzzing about in the office.

Faster revenue, faster rounds. When it comes to what “best in class” growth looks like for startups, AI has upended the benchmarks.

While $1 million ARR in a startup’s first year used to be commendable, AI startups are now doubling — even 10X’ing or more — that milestone, according to new revenue benchmarks from a16z. The timeline for the median Seed-stage companies raising Series A has also compressed to a mere 8 months or faster.

We’re seeing this explosive growth play out in our portfolio as well, with GPTZero recently surpassing $16 million in its best quarter ever, and on track for more.

This unprecedented growth is reshaping how companies build and how workers adapt:

• Many companies have publicized their “AI-first” strategy in memos and earnings calls. Zapier has gone a step further, sharing their rubric for what AI fluency means for different roles, from unacceptable to transformative.

• “Vibe coding” is all the rage, though our attempts only get projects 80 percent of the way there. Code.org founder Hadi Partovi believes computer science is still essential. But what is the new curriculum that takes into account today’s new-age tools?

• “Move fast and make things.” Reid Hoffman’s recommendation to new graduates is a tale older than Silicon Valley. The best way to tech-proof one’s future is to wield it, and AI makes it faster and easier than ever to experiment and build.

Team updates

We’re thrilled to share promotions for two beloved colleagues!

Caoimhe MacRunnels is now Principal at Reach. Since joining in 2023, she’s led our investment in Mecha Health, expanded our technical talent network through Major League Hacking, and sharpened our diligence and sourcing practices.

Yina Li is officially Reach’s full-time designer. Whether she’s crafting impeccable visuals for events or designing delightful UX for portfolio companies, she brings taste, clarity, and care to every project. As one founder put it, “Working with Yina has made me a better product thinker.”

The data room

If you’re building solutions to move the needle on these figures, or in other areas across learning, health, and work, we’d love to hear from you!

CREDENTIAL UNCREDIBLE: There are over 1.1 million degrees, certificates, and other credentials available. But only 12% of them deliver big wage gains that earners wouldn’t have otherwise gotten, according to a new report from The Burning Glass Institute, and just 18 percent of credential earners are likely to see wage increases their peers didn’t get. This is based on their analysis of 65 million career records.

AI CATCH UP: Just 14% of health system CIOs say they have a well-defined AI strategy. Lacking budget and expertise in this domain, many are turning to their electronic health record vendors for AI tools.

AUTHORIZATION GRIDLOCK: Physicians spend 13 hours each week wrangling prior authorizations — getting approval for insurance to pay for treatment — and 40% have staff dedicated solely to the task. 

SOME COLLEGE, NO CLOSURE: As of the 2023-24 academic year, there are now over 43 million adults who left college with some credits but not a degree. While re-enrollment is rising in 42 states, the “Some College, No Credential (SCNC)” population continues to grow.

NEW GRADS, NEW PRIORITIES: Nearly 40% of the Class of 2025 prefers small teams over big names, care about location more than salary, and most would rather stay close to home, per Handshake’s latest State of the Graduate report. While job postings on the platform have declined by 15% over the past year, the number of applications per job has increased by 30%.

Oh, the places we’ll go

ISTE
Jun. 29-Jul 2 | San Antonio, TX

Lobby: Elevate 2025
Sep. 16 | Napa, CA

Next moves

Big moves start with bold clicks. Where will you go next?

There are 497 job openings across the Reach portfolio. Check them out here.