Alpaca, an EdTech startup based in Omaha, closed a $1.8 million seed round of funding. The company began by providing care packages to teachers. Alpaca leadership said the funding will be used to expand into more school districts and advance new tools like its survey application, Alpaca Pulse, for supporting educator retention efforts.
CEO and Founder Karen Borchert said she was excited about the investors’ diverse representation of sectors. She said Nelnet and Invest Nebraska officially led the round, with additional funds coming from Workshop Ventures, the Lozier Foundation and MOVE Venture Capital.
“I think it sends an important signal to say this is a thing that’s different,” said Borchert.
Alpaca started in 2022 and is now working with more than 100 schools and districts across the country, according to Borchert. The company currently offers a pulse survey solution for checking in and gathering data from school staff to keep administrators informed on overall team well-being. It also provides a free library of digital resources designed by educators to boost school culture and celebration kits to award staff and increase morale.
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Borchert said the company’s services and tools align with three core pillars: To listen, to support and to recognize.
“We just launched a partnership with the Nebraska Early Childhood Collaborative (NECC) to do our surveys with early childhood providers, and we’re doing some work with the University of Nebraska for student teachers,“ said Borchert.
Outside of Nebraska, Borchert said Alpaca is collaborating with new teacher programs across the country in states like Louisiana.
“We’re just figuring out how far we can take this thing,” said Borchert. “We have a lot going on right now.”
The fundraising announcement comes on the heels of Alpaca receiving national recognition as the Pitchfest Overall Winner at the 2025 Future of Education Technology Conference (FETC). The startup is participating in The Summer Studio in May — an initiative led by professors at the University of Texas’ School of Design to assist organizations with launching an idea by collaborating with designers and developers around the nation.
Other projects that Borchert said the company is working on include creating a podcast of their Little Wins newsletter and utilizing the data Apaca has collected after its first year of doing surveys to publish a report on school conditions and showcase real stories.
Additionally, Alpaca has launched Camp Alpaca, a two-week workshop for educators to learn to use creative tools like Canva and iPhone photography. Attendees will also provide feedback on Alpaca’s products and co-create resources for other teachers. To apply, educators can click the link to the camp’s application portal.
“We’re just excited to grow,” said Borchert. “We can’t wait to get into more schools.”
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