Raising money isn’t easy, but Ted Rogers School of Management alum Alanna Harvey may figured it out.
The former communications student at Ryerson University’s business school in Toronto successfully raised an undisclosed amount of funding for an app she co-founded, Flipd, according to a press release. The app “allows users to block phone distractions,” per the release. App users have spent more than 1 million hours distraction-free, the app’s website reads.
Educators can use the app by analyzing when students did (or did not) use their phone. This will help them evaluate more effective teaching methods. Students who need some help focusing also benefit from the app. But Flipd is really just about increasing productivity for people who get distracted by their cell phones. (C’mon, we’re all guilty of doing that.) The app even offers a blog that provides its users with words of wisdom on mindfulness and self-care.
A preview of Harvey’s Flipd app.
The app’s investors include Ryerson Futures, Figure 1 founders Gregory Levey, Richard Penner, and Joshua Landy, as well as Candice Faktor of Faktory Ventures. Harvey helped find this app-based company, but she’s put her communications degree to good use by serving as the Flipd’s marketing director. Investor Levey taught Harvey some of what she knows. He also knows a thing or two about startups.
“As a co-founder of my own startup, I saw some intriguing parallels with the way Flipd is approaching its mission,” Levey said in the press release. “And as someone who has taught undergrad and graduate students for over ten years, I definitely see the value of that mission.”
Both Levey and Harvey continue keeping the school’s spirit alive. The business school prides itself on its innovative education. They show what that looks like. Levey also shows what solidarity looks like through funding a former student’s app, which debuted in 2015 and has seen steady growth since its release.
Flipd is available for download in the iTunes Store and Google Play today.