{"data":{"type":"company_profile","id":70843,"entity_id":"wefunder:company:70843","attributes":{"canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/akala","generated_at":"2026-06-23T04:22:04Z","updated_at":"2026-06-22T05:03:13Z","entity_ids":{"company":"wefunder:company:70843","slug":"wefunder:company_slug:akala"},"profile_visibility":{"owner_published":true,"public_search_results":true,"site_search_listed":true,"privacy_mode":"promote","invite_only":false},"provenance":{"source":"wefunder_public_company_profile","as_of":"2026-06-23T04:22:04Z","claims":{"total_amount_raised":{"source":"FrontCompanySummary#amount_raised","last_verified_at":"2026-06-22T05:03:13Z","as_of":"2026-06-23T04:22:04Z","confidence":"high"},"total_investors":{"source":"FrontCompanySummary#number_of_investors","last_verified_at":"2026-06-22T05:03:13Z","as_of":"2026-06-23T04:22:04Z","confidence":"high"},"active_raise_states":{"source":"Fundraise.visible(nil, nil)","last_verified_at":"2026-03-13T17:22:08Z","as_of":"2026-06-23T04:22:04Z","confidence":"high"},"latest_fundraise_state":{"source":"Fundraise.visible(nil, nil).order(funding_started_at)","last_verified_at":"2026-03-13T17:22:08Z","as_of":"2026-06-23T04:22:04Z","confidence":"medium"}}},"company":{"id":70843,"entity_id":"wefunder:company:70843","slug":"akala","name":"AKALA","tagline":"A scalable (and affordable) college admissions guidance platform backed by USC, Google and Techstars","elevator_pitch":"An affordable AI-enabled College Admissions Counseling platform that helps students navigate the complicated journey to college. 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A couple questions as I understand the business model further: 1. Why a 15K/family for international compared to $75/mo for US family? 2. 8th grade though college is where most guidance is needed. This service will be great especially since parents are not spending the time and leaving it to the kids themselves or parents dont have the knowledge either if they are immigrant citizens but didnt do college in US. Is the platform something that kids can use directly as well or is family guidance critical as part of the service. If it can be either/or that would be great. 3. Are you looking to expand this service to helping students in high school for summer course selections etc as well. That may feed into their choices and also give them more time in later years for college applications and other stuff. 4. Is there a scaled pricing model ie in earlier years 8th grade etc, the engagement or need for the platform may not be as much but will increase over time so charging same subscription price to an 8th or 9th grader parent will delay subscription decision by most families. Perhaps a $10-$15/mo for 8th-10th grade and increasing to $75/mo for senior grades? Obviously platform services will need to be segmented accordingly, if not so already. 5. As you collect more data, hopefully you will be using AI models to monitor review past results of previously enrolled kids success/failure at various metrics - and accordingly supplementing that input into guidance for current kids? Thanks in advance! Gagan","author_name":"Gagan Singh","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-05-02T17:59:25Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/akala#question-282897","answers":[{"id":282972,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:282972","answer":"Hi Gagan! Thank you for the great questions! And sorry for the delay. We are at a conference. 1. Most international students have to pay full freight tuition at US universities. That puts them in a different economic demographic (Top 5%). The demand of that clientele is a much more concierge service to navigate the challenges that international students face on top of the myriad challenges ALL students face. As a result, that service is much more hands-on. Happy to discuss further about this, especially for international students from countries that may not have to pay full freight. 2. Definitely either/or. Kids can totally do this on their own. In fact, one of our unofficial tag lines is that we are the great middle man between parent and child. Kids will often listen to us whereas they would resist the same advice from their parents. And further, to your point, so many immigrant families have no idea how to navigate the complex process in America and that is why we are here for them! 3. Yes! That is actually already included. This service is all inclusive. We help with all aspects of the profile. Extracurriculars, Community Service, Summer Experience, scholarships, among several others (we even coach kids on how to get the best recommendations from teachers and counselors). But along the lines of expansion, on our roadmap, we also plan to expand to graduate school. 4. This is a really interesting idea! Maybe we can discuss offline. The reality though is that while it may feel less involved, the decision-making in the early years is absolutely critical to creating the most attractive application 4-5 years later and therefore the guidance is extremely valuable! That said, a very interesting way to get people in the door early. 5. 100000%!!! We have so many great use cases for AI, including matching kids to schools based on their personality insights. Thank you for these questions! Happy to hop on a call any time to discuss more and thanks in advance for your investment. We actually have a couple VERY exciting updates we are about to announce.","author_name":"Perry Kalmus","votes":1,"created_at":"2024-05-03T22:58:05Z"}]},{"id":310480,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:310480","question":"Investing in educational platforms like Akala highlights the growing demand for accessible, personalized guidance in college admissions. A valuable complement to this mission is best https://bestcollegeadmissionconsultants.com/ service which connects students with expert advisors to help them navigate applications, essays, and interview preparation. Combining innovative tools like Akala with professional consulting services can significantly improve students’ chances of success and expand opportunities for underrepresented communities.","author_name":"Stephen Chandler","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-06-28T07:36:36Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/akala#question-310480","answers":[]},{"id":307529,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:307529","question":"Do you have an app already built out?","author_name":"Majed Mahmood","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-05-05T19:21:50Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/akala#question-307529","answers":[{"id":307985,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:307985","answer":"Hi Majed! Apologies for the delay. Yes we do! The platform is really incredible and one of our big differentiators! Would love to show it to you some time","author_name":"Perry Kalmus","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-05-11T22:02:29Z"}]},{"id":304666,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:304666","question":"Hey there, I run a community round focused venture fund and have a few questions for you that I'd love to ask 1 on 1 if possible. What's the best way to reach you before end of the community round for a zoom meeting?","author_name":"Tristin Chambers","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-03-26T12:08:45Z","canonical_url":"https://wefunder.com/akala#question-304666","answers":[{"id":304947,"entity_id":"wefunder:comment:304947","answer":"Hi Tristin! Absolutely! Apologies for the delay. We were at a conference. If It’s easier, feel free to hop on my calendar and pick a time that works for you. https://calendly.com/akalaperry","author_name":"Perry Kalmus","votes":0,"created_at":"2025-03-30T05:17:33Z"}]}],"faq":[{"question":"Great need for this service and will most likely be investing soon. A couple questions as I understand the business model further: 1. Why a 15K/family for international compared to $75/mo for US family? 2. 8th grade though college is where most guidance is needed. This service...","answer":"Hi Gagan! Thank you for the great questions! And sorry for the delay. We are at a conference. 1. Most international students have to pay full freight tuition at US universities. That puts them in a different economic demographic (Top 5%). The demand of that clientele is a much more concierge service to navigate the challenges that international students face on top of the myriad challenges ALL students face. As a result, that service is much more hands-on. Happy to discuss further about this,..."},{"question":"Hey there, I run a community round focused venture fund and have a few questions for you that I'd love to ask 1 on 1 if possible. What's the best way to reach you before end of the community round for a zoom meeting?","answer":"Hi Tristin! Absolutely! Apologies for the delay. We were at a conference. If It’s easier, feel free to hop on my calendar and pick a time that works for you. https://calendly.com/akalaperry"},{"question":"Do you have an app already built out?","answer":"Hi Majed! Apologies for the delay. Yes we do! The platform is really incredible and one of our big differentiators! Would love to show it to you some time"}]}}}