QSTP-funded higher-ed tool empowers students on path to graduation

Stellic, a student-founded platform that now supports the academic journey of hundreds of thousands of learners across the world, is a unique story of entrepreneurial success.

Its founders, then Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) students, found inspiration in necessity when they came face to face with archaic higher education tools that did little to help visualise their own academic path. What they discovered was a gap in the system and an opportunity to create better visibility and communication between students and academic advisors, so that students can easily map out their four-year academic journey during their time at university. Stellic’s early years were closely tied to the Qatar Foundation (QF) ecosystem. Its founders took part in Qatar Science & Technology Park’s (QSTP) intensive pre-startup programme, XLR8, which helps promising young innovators determine if their tech-based ideas have commercial viability. Not long after, Stellic was incorporated at the QSTP Free Zone and began its lifecycle as a startup.In fall 2019, as part of its pre–Series A financing, Stellic received an investment from QSTP’s Tech Venture Fund (TVF). This was the beginning of a journey, which eventually saw the startup achieve significant growth over the next two years, including a six-fold increase in revenue.“The TVF investment was the first piece of support we received post-graduation, and it essentially helped us to set up the logistics of our new business. We also received expert guidance from the TVF team during the early stages of our startup’s growth. In fact, without the support from TVF, it would have been significantly harder to start Stellic while in Doha,” said Rukhsar Neyaz, COO and co-founder of Stellic.When it comes to their academic future, learners want to engage but they also need to know which avenues are available to them to map out their journey. “While there are many data-based higher education tools available in a highly competitive market of rapidly evolving ed-tech, we take a uniquely student-focused approach, focusing on the individual experience and challenges faced by the user,” Neyaz said.Stellic’s three dozen partner institutions can be found across the globe – from Mexico, the US, to Canada and Qatar. Just recently, Stellic secured a $11mn investment led by Reach Capital along with 15 edtech founder-investors, including John Katzman (2U/Noodle), David Blake (Degreed), and Matt Pittinsky (Blackboard/Parchment). The team intends to use these funds to enhance the student-centric capabilities of the platform.“Our vision for the product is to bridge the gap to cover the full student lifecycle, so that students can use Stellic to explore different careers and institutions before ever setting foot in a university. Similarly, after graduation, they can stay on the tool to help guide the next generation of learners,” he said.The QSTP TVF breaks down barriers for upcoming tech companies and supports commercialisation of market-ready technologies through early investment, as part of an economically diverse future for Qatar.