About EducAIte
EducAIte sells to K-12 schools and school districts. Its main product is a chat platform that students use in place of tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini. The AI asks guiding questions and breaks a problem into steps instead of giving the answer. Teachers see every prompt a student types, with summaries of where students struggle or lean too hard on the AI. The company also sells ten workshops for teachers and school leaders, and a nine-part AI policy framework for schools.
EducAIte LLC is based in Chicago. Erica Bishaf and Campbell Schafer founded it. Bishaf is chief executive officer, and Schafer is chief operating officer. A company blog post from September 8, 2026 names eight pilot partners for the 2026-27 school year, including Chicago Public Schools, Barrington 220 and Joliet. Fifth Star Funds, which invested in the company, says it has eleven pilot customers and more than 1,000 licenses in use. The company reviewed that page in October 2026.
Funding Rounds (SEC Form D)
| First sale | Filed with SEC | Amount sold | Investors | Avg. check | Terms | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 2026 | Oct 27, 2026 | $25,000of $250K target | 1 | $25,000 | Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE)Rule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
First sale is the date the first investor in the offering committed to invest. Companies must file Form D within 15 days of that date, so filing dates run later.
Why Investors Backed EducAIte
Fifth Star Funds invested $25,000 in EducAIte in 2026, and it has not explained why. The company's case is that students already use chatbots for schoolwork, and those tools hand over answers instead of building thinking. Its platform makes students reason through problems and lets teachers see every prompt. Pilot districts, including Chicago Public Schools, are testing the platform this school year.
The problem it targets
EducAIte's case is that students use general chatbots for homework, and those tools are built to give a full answer fast. This is a design problem, not a character problem. The tools point toward output, not process. It cites Stanford's 2026 AI Index for the figure that four out of five middle and high school students in the U.S. report using AI for schoolwork. Teachers get no view into how students use these tools. Campbell Schafer, the chief operating officer, writes: "The real threat of AI isn't to jobs. It's to the human brain."
What the product does
The platform is a chat tool that schools give students in place of ChatGPT or Gemini. It asks guiding questions and breaks tasks into steps instead of giving the finished answer. It also coaches students on writing better prompts. Teachers see every prompt in a dashboard with AI-written summaries, and tiered alerts send sensitive prompts to counselors, administrators or security staff. The platform connects to the large language model a school already prefers. Beyond the platform, it sells ten teacher workshops and a nine-part AI policy framework.
Progress so far
A company blog post from September 8, 2026 names eight pilot partners for the 2026-27 school year. They include Chicago Public Schools, Joliet, Barrington 220, Lincolnshire-Prairie View District 103, Ladue Horton Watkins High School and Holy Trinity High School. Fifth Star Funds says the company has eleven pilot customers and more than 1,000 licenses in use. It also says the first paid pilots began in October 2026, with more starting in January 2027. The company reviewed that page in October 2026. EducAIte has not published revenue figures.
Who backs it
Fifth Star Funds, a Chicago nonprofit, invested $25,000 in EducAIte in 2026. The fund is a 501(c)(3) public charity that invests directly in companies and does not make grants. Every company it backs gets the same $25,000 check, and returns go back into the fund. Erica Bishaf and Campbell Schafer are the company's directors.
How the market is moving
The U.S. Department of Education published a final grant priority called "Advancing Artificial Intelligence in Education" in the Federal Register on April 13, 2026. It took effect May 13, 2026. The Secretary of Education may use it in any Department discretionary grant program or competition. Among other things, it covers training for K-12 educators on age-appropriate AI methods. EducAIte markets its workshops and platform as aligned with it. The notice also records public comments that opposed AI in K-12 classrooms.
We wrote this summary from public statements by EducAIte and its investors. It is not investment advice.
Leadership Team
Executive officers and directors listed on EducAIte's Form D filed Oct 27, 2026.
Sources
- SECEducaite LLC filing history
- Company siteFAQ on educaitelearning.com: founders, platform, workshops, policy framework
- Company sitePrivacy notice on educaitelearning.com: EducAIte LLC, Chicago address
- Company siteProfessional development page on educaitelearning.com: ten-workshop series
- Company siteGrant alignment page on educaitelearning.com
- Company siteKnowledge Hub on educaitelearning.com
- Company siteBlog post by Erica Bishaf (May 13, 2026): why the company started
- Company siteBlog post (August 3, 2026): how EducAIte compares to Gemini
- Company siteBlog post (September 8, 2026): pilot partner schools
- Company siteBlog post by Campbell Schafer (August 13, 2026): AI and critical thinking
- Company siteBlog post by Caitlen Macias, head of growth (October 12, 2026)
- Company siteBlog post by Erica Bishaf (November 2, 2026): class test at the University of Illinois Chicago
- Investor siteFifth Star Funds portfolio page on EducAIte
- Government siteFederal Register, April 13, 2026: final priority on advancing artificial intelligence in education (effective May 13, 2026)