Fidu

Fidu provides a comprehensive operating system for private schools, primarily in Latin America, designed to digitize and streamline administrative and financial tasks. Founded by Nicolás Giménez, Caterina Carreño, and Ariel Manduca, the company aims to address the largely offline nature of school operations in the region. The founding team possesses a blend of experience in education and technology; CEO Nicolás Giménez began his career as a teacher before starting his own company, COO Caterina Carreño has seven years of experience in the education space, and CTO Ariel Manduca is a second-time founder with a background in computer science and economics.

The company's platform automates key processes for schools, covering finances, classroom management, and communication. It offers a full-stack solution that includes a custom app for schools to communicate with families, send tuition reminders, and process payments directly through the application. By digitizing these functions, Fidu helps schools reduce operational costs and allows administrators and teachers to dedicate more time to educational activities. The business model centers on providing these digital solutions to its partner schools, which now number over 1,000 across countries like Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Argentina.

A significant milestone for Fidu was securing a $5 million seed funding round in October 2022, co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and NFX. This capital is intended to fuel the platform's expansion and enhance its offerings. One of the developing features is a financial product that provides guaranteed revenue financing to schools. This involves using the platform's data to understand a school's revenue stability, which then allows Fidu to offer financing, with pilot programs already underway in Mexico City and Bogota. The platform also incorporates AI to create an assistant that facilitates instant and personalized communication between schools and families, further aiming to improve engagement and loyalty.

Keywords: EdTech, school management software, Latin America education, school administration, parent-teacher communication, tuition payment processing, school financing, mobile education platform, K-12 education software, school operations, classroom management, student information system, Fidu, Nicolás Giménez, Caterina Carreño, Ariel Manduca, Lightspeed Venture Partners, NFX, education technology, school communication app