Launch Now provides a student‑centric platform that links schools with local businesses to match students to hands‑on work experiences and career opportunities. By digitizing a traditionally paper‑based process and leveraging student data, the service streamlines opportunity discovery for students, simplifies outreach for businesses, and reduces administrative workload for educators.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Schools and students often rely on paper‑based processes to find and manage hands‑on learning or employment opportunities, which is time‑consuming for administrators and limits access to local business partners. Parents and businesses also lack a streamlined way to engage in the placement workflow.
Solution
Launch Now offers a web‑based platform that digitizes the matching of students with local businesses for internships, job‑shadows, volunteer roles, and other experiential learning opportunities. The system lets students explore and express interest in opportunities that align with their career interests, while school administrators approve connections to ensure suitability. Parents can grant or deny access for their children, adding an extra layer of consent. Community businesses register to view a curated pool of motivated students and submit opportunities, with all interactions tracked within the platform. Data security is enforced through strict privacy policies and compliance with data‑privacy standards, ensuring student information is not shared or sold.
Target Audience
Primary users are K‑12 schools and district administrators seeking to streamline experiential‑learning programs, as well as local businesses looking to recruit and mentor high‑school students.
Features
- Student dashboard for browsing, researching, and expressing interest in local work‑based learning opportunities
- Administrator workflow that routes student requests to businesses for approval and tracks placement status
- Parent consent controls allowing approval or denial of a child’s participation in the platform
- Business portal where vetted employers post opportunities and access a filtered list of interested students
- Integrated career‑exploration resources, including self‑assessment tools and informational interview guides
- Secure data handling compliant with Data Privacy Consortium standards, prohibiting sale or tracking of personal data