What stage does ETS Strategic Capital invest at?

ETS Strategic Capital invests at the Seed, Series B, Series C, Growth, Late Stage stages.

What sectors does ETS Strategic Capital focus on?

ETS Strategic Capital focuses on AI & Machine Learning, EdTech, Future of Work, HR Tech.

Where is ETS Strategic Capital located?

ETS Strategic Capital is headquartered in Princeton, US.

ETS Strategic Capital

Corporate VC

Princeton · Seed–Late Stage · 12 people tracked

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Investment thesis

ETS Capital, the strategic capital arm of ETS, invests in companies advancing education and human progress. Its equity focus typically targets Series B, Series C, and later-stage companies with proven product/market fit and established business models that seek growth capital to scale, though select earlier-stage deals are possible. Alongside equity investing, the firm pursues middle-market mergers and acquisitions and forms growth partnerships such as joint ventures, channel/distribution agreements, and IP licensing or technology-transfer relationships. Its portfolio spans edtech, workforce development, assessment, and talent-decision platforms, reflecting a mission to fuel growth and better outcomes across learning and employment.

Invests inAI & Machine Learning EdTech Future of Work HR TechEuropeGlobalIndiaNorth AmericaPrincetonUnited States

Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.

Stage

Seed–Late Stage

Princeton, NJ, US

Instruments

Equity

Tracked investments

Team · 12 people

from the firm's website & public directories

Emal Dusst· Managing Director & Head of ETS Capital

Managing Director and Head of ETS Capital. Previously a senior investment professional at Sterling Partners leading global education and workforce deals, helped found Cintana Education, and held senior roles at Laureate Education and Saint-Gobain. He serves or has served on boards of several education companies including Coursera, Memorang, Suraasa, and Orijin.

Malone Ma· Principal

Principal and board observer at portfolio company Orijin. Previously led the portfolio company management division of HNA Group North America and was a senior director at T.A. McKay & Co. He holds the CFA designation.

Mike May· Principal

Principal and board observer at portfolio company Memorang. Previously an Investment Banking Director at Solomon Partners and a VP in the TMT Investment Banking Group at TD Cowen.

Mike Rossmann· Principal

Principal who previously was a VP at Wells Fargo Securities executing M&A transactions and worked in strategy consulting at Cartesian.

Daniel Pollak· Senior Associate

Senior Associate who previously worked in technology investment banking at Oppenheimer, advising companies on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raises.

Farhat Siddiqui· Advisor· New York City Metropolitan Areain

Farhat Siddiqui leads AI platform adoption and governance at Genmab, where he has scaled ChatGPT and other large language models from a pilot program to enterprise-wide deployment across multiple business functions. His background includes leadership roles in engineering, data, and product organizations at ETS and Meta, as well as early work in trading systems at Citi. He holds a statistics degree and master's in computer science, and independently operates Nuven.ai to research applications of frontier AI models.

Isabelle Hau· Advisory Board - AI & Learning Innovation

Advisory board member; Executive Director of the Stanford Accelerator for Learning with over 20 years building global AI and learning innovation platforms.

Jonathan Lau· Advisory Board - Product & Strategy

Advisory board member; co-founder of workforce education provider InStride with over 20 years of global edtech leadership.

Melanie Clayton· Executive Assistant

Executive Assistant who has been with ETS for over 14 years, previously serving in scoring and reporting operations and other administrative roles.

Pankaj Bansal· Advisory Board - Workforce & Skilling

Advisory board member; co-founder and managing partner of Caret Capital with over 25 years in workforce readiness and education-to-employment partnerships.

Smit Desai· Director

Director with over a decade of experience in investment banking, corporate development, and strategy. Board observer at portfolio company LeverageEdu; previously led strategy and corporate development at a Yubi subsidiary and worked in corporate development at upGrad and investment banking at EY.

Tony Chan· Advisory Board - Global STEM & Higher Ed

Advisory board member; former President of KAUST and HKUST with over 30 years driving global STEM innovation and higher education transformation.

What they invest in

from 15 of 23 portfolio companies

EdTech ×14SaaS ×7Enterprise Software ×5AI & Machine Learning ×4HR Tech ×3Future of Work ×2Marketplaces ×2B2B Marketplaces ×1

HQs:United States×4India×3Canada×1

Investments · 23 tracked

founders shown can be your intro path

EduvueSEC filingmedium confidence

Newark, US

Ankit Khanna(Director)Rishab Khanna(Director)

BoardJennifer Carolan(Director)

Board seatEmal Dusst· per SEC Form D · $4M raise · filed Oct 2024

ApplyBoard Inc.applyboard.comin

ApplyBoard operates a platform connecting international students with educational institutions across Canada, the US, UK, Ireland, Australia, and Germany.

B2B MarketplacesEdTechMarketplacesSaaSLondon, CA

BenchPrepbenchprep.comin

BenchPrep is a learning management system for associations, credentialing bodies, and training companies that delivers exam prep, continuing education, and professional certifications.

EdTechEnterprise SoftwareSaaS

Classclass.comin 𝕏

Class is a virtual classroom platform built on Microsoft Teams that adds interactive teaching and learning tools to enhance live synchronous instruction.

EdTechFuture of WorkSaaSNew York, US

Taryn Toomey(Executive Officer, Director)

click herecollegedekho.comin 𝕏

CollegeDekho is a college guidance and counseling platform that helps students discover career paths and find suitable colleges through personalized recommendations and expert counseling services.

EdTech

Degreeddegreed.comin 𝕏

Degreed provides an enterprise learning experience platform that helps organizations collect, understand, and develop workforce skills through AI-driven learning experiences.

EdTechEnterprise SoftwareHR TechSaaSSan Francisco, US

David Blake(CEO)Chris McCarthy(Director)

BoardBrandon Tidwell(Director)

GradSchoolMatchgradschoolmatch.com

GradSchoolMatch provides articles and resources to help prospective graduate, business, and law students find programs, understand financing options, and prepare for admissions applications.

EdTech

Green Fernsuraasa.com

Harverharver.comin 𝕏

Harver provides predictive assessments and automated recruitment solutions for large employers such as BPOs, contact centers, and retail organizations seeking to identify high-potential candidates and reduce hiring time while improving quality and retention.

Enterprise SoftwareHR TechSaaS

Impacter Pathwayimpacterpathway.comin

IMPACTER provides a platform that uses natural language processing and machine learning to measure soft skills development in students, helping schools track character competencies like purpose, grit, and compassion.

AI & Machine LearningEdTech

Kira Talentkiratalent.comin 𝕏

Kira Talent provides an admissions assessment platform for higher education institutions to evaluate applicants on program fit and competencies like leadership and critical thinking while reducing bias in the selection process.

EdTech

Emilie Cushman(Founder)

Leverage Eduleverageedu.comin 𝕏

Leverage Edu is an India-based study-abroad platform that helps students pursue global higher education, offering services such as university admissions guidance, education loans through a financial services arm, and student accommodation.

AI & Machine LearningEdTechFintechFuture of WorkMarketplaces

Akshay Chaturvedi(Founder & CEO)

Memorangmemorang.comin 𝕏

Memorang is an all-in-one platform that uses AI to help organizations build content, assessments, and learning applications at scale.

AI & Machine LearningEdTechSaaS

MPOWER Financingmpowerfinancing.comin 𝕏

MTCmastery.orgin 𝕏

Mastery.org provides an alternative transcript system for schools that captures student competencies and authentic work instead of traditional grades, accepted by 823 colleges and universities for college admissions.

EdTech

Openclassrooms Current Allopenclassrooms.com

Orijinorijin.works

Pippletpipplet.comin 𝕏

Pipplet is an online language assessment platform that tests professional language proficiency for recruitment, talent development, placement, and student admission.

EdTechEnterprise SoftwareHR Tech

PSIpsiexams.comin

PSI provides exam development, delivery, and proctoring services for credentialing organizations, including remote and in-center testing options.

EdTechEnterprise SoftwareSaaS

Pymetrics

Develops neuroscience-based human capital assessment software that enables companies to hire the best employees.

New York, US

Samir Kaul(Director)Barbara Marder(Director)Julie J. Yoo(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)Frida E. Polli(Executive Officer, Director, Promoter)

Upgradupgrad.comin 𝕏

upGrad is an online higher education company offering degrees, certifications, bootcamps, and study abroad programs, as well as recruitment services, in partnership with universities.

AI & Machine LearningEdTech

Ronnie ScrewvalaMayank KumarPhalgun Kompalli

Vericantvericant.comin

Wheeboxwheebox.com

Rows marked “SEC filing” are inferred from directors named on the company's SEC Form D — public regulatory data, not a portfolio list published by the firm.

Frequently asked questions

What stage does ETS Strategic Capital invest at?: ETS Strategic Capital invests at the Seed, Series B, Series C, Growth, Late Stage stages.
What sectors does ETS Strategic Capital focus on?: ETS Strategic Capital focuses on AI & Machine Learning, EdTech, Future of Work, HR Tech.
Where is ETS Strategic Capital located?: ETS Strategic Capital is headquartered in Princeton, US.

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