Owl Ventures, largest venture capital fund in the world focused on the EdTech market, announced today that Henry Hipps, an experienced education executive, will join the firm as a Senior Advisor. Hipps was most recently the Deputy Director of K-12 Education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Hipps will focus on the Owl K-12 portfolio and brings expertise in customer acquisition, identifying and attracting high quality talent and leading major strategic initiatives. It is expected that Hipps will join the Board of Directors for select companies within the Owl portfolio where he can bring differentiated value.
In his previous role, Hipps led The Gates Foundation’s investment efforts in the development of K-12 solutions that strategically aligned the work of enterprising nonprofit organizations and mission-aligned for-profit companies for impact, sustainability, and scale. He managed a cross-functional team and led the $150M annual investment initiative into curriculum and instructional tools, social emotional learning, postsecondary transitions, and digital content and platforms. Hipps shifted the foundation’s approach to systemic change by amplifying the needs of the public sector, engaging private capital, addressing market failures, and investing in the ingenuity of entrepreneurial leaders and models. This leadership position also supported the work on improving the availability, awareness, and implementation of high leverage solutions that support teachers and increase student achievement.
"We are excited to have Henry work closely with our K-12 portfolio companies and leverage his deep experience and network to help scale them into transformative category leading companies.”
Tory Patterson, Managing Director of Owl Ventures said, “We are thrilled to have Henry join the Owl team. We have known Henry since the inception of Owl and he has been an outstanding strategic thought partner to us over many years. We are excited to have Henry work closely with our K-12 portfolio companies and leverage his deep experience and network to help scale them into transformative category leading companies.”
Throughout his career, Henry has sought opportunities to leverage entrepreneurship and innovation as tools to create social impact. Previously, Henry was a senior director at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, Mayor Villaraigosa’s school turnaround organization. Henry was also the Founder and CEO of Trajectory Learning which delivered web-based K-12 courseware with culturally-relevant content designed to increase student engagement. Prior to his work in education, Henry was an engagement manager at IBM Business Consulting where he led global teams on business and technology consulting engagements. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay to work with high-potential startups which were poised to drive economic growth in the region.
"As the global leader in education technology investing, Owl Ventures is uniquely positioned to advance innovation in the education sector and I look forward to deepening our longstanding collaboration in this work.”
Henry said, “I am excited to join the Owl Ventures team to help shape the trajectories of their portfolio companies and to support their partner entrepreneurs as they navigate the complexities of the education market. As the global leader in education technology investing, Owl Ventures is uniquely positioned to advance innovation in the education sector and I look forward to deepening our longstanding collaboration in this work.”
About Owl Ventures
Owl Ventures is the largest venture capital fund in the world focused on the EdTech market with over $2 billion in assets under management. The Silicon Valley based firm invests in the world’s leading education technology companies across the education spectrum encompassing PreK-12, higher education, future of work (career mobility/professional learning), and “EdTech+” (intersection of EdTech and other major industries such as FinTech and healthcare). Owl Ventures has deep domain expertise and leverages a global network of Limited Partners, investors, and strategic partners to help entrepreneurs scale their businesses into transformative category leading companies. Learn more at www.owlvc.com. Owl’s annual Education Outcomes Report can be viewed at www.OwlVC.com/outcomes.php.