Peter Hazlehurst, former CEO of Google Payments Corp., announced on Tuesday the beta launch of his new education crowdfunding platform, AngelScholars.
According to its description, AngelScholars offers up a crowdfunding solution to the scholarship system providing a new and unconventional way of giving back.
“Located in San Carlos, CA, AngelScholars PBC is a crowdfunding platform launched in 2016 to connect a new generation of donors seeking a more impactful engagement with students who need funding. Starting with as little as $50, anyone can easily create or fund a scholarship that they personally believe in. Alternatively, scholars can find and apply for unique opportunities or run their own campaigns based on their unique needs.”
Sharing details about the new funding portal, Hazlehurst stated:
“For as little as $50 dollars AngelScholars makes it possible for people to get involved, have a personalized impact and have control over their donations much like that Phil Knight got when he donated $400 million to Stanford.With AngelScholars, all it takes is a little money, an idea of who you want to support and the willingness to ask for help from your friends on Facebook and Twitter. We do the hard work and verify the Scholars, while also facilitating a connection with them. We’ll make sure the money is spent wisely, and we let you see the impact you are having.”
The platform’s team revealed that scholarships may also be as specific as a coding camp for African-American high school students based in Oakland with a 3.0 GPA who are studying STEM, or as general as school uniforms for kids whose parents make less than $25,000 and live in Atlanta.
Hazlehurst went on to add:
“I benefited first hand from the power of a targeted scholarship, and I wanted a way to make my experience more of the norm than an outlier. We’re using technology and social networks to remove typical barriers to funding education. All that’s left is the desire for an Angel to help kids in a way they believe in, and students who share these same dreams.”