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Orijin empowers justice-impacted individuals with tailored educational and skills-based programs, setting the stage for successful, sustainable employment post-release.
Orijin, PBC has raised $7.0M across 1 funding round.
Orijin, PBC has raised $7.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Orijin, PBC has raised $7.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $7.0M Series C in July 2022.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2022 | $7M Series C | — | NEW Markets Venture Partners | Announced |
Orijin, PBC has raised $7.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Orijin, PBC's investors include New Markets Venture Partners.
Orijin, PBC is a New York-based Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) and Certified B Corporation that provides secure tablet computers, a cloud-based learning and communications platform, and SaaS infrastructure to deliver education, workforce training, and reentry support to justice-impacted individuals in US jails and prisons.[1][2][3] It serves correctional facilities, justice-impacted people, and employers by enabling secure digital content delivery over private wireless networks, curating educational programs, and fostering skills for sustainable employment without charging learners or their families.[1][3][4] The company addresses recidivism through education and job training, improves prison safety, cuts costs for administrators, and builds family connections via monitored communications, with recent growth including AI innovations and recognitions like Fast Company's 2024 Most Innovative Companies (No. 4 in Education) and Jobs for the Future's "Innovator to Watch."[2][6]
Founded in 2012 (with formal incorporation noted as 2014 in some records), Orijin began as American Prison Data Systems (APDS), shortened to APDS in 2018, before rebranding to Orijin to emphasize its mission of transforming corrections through education technology.[2][3][4] The idea emerged to revolutionize the correctional sector by providing turnkey tech infrastructure like monitored tablets and secure content delivery, tackling challenges in education and reentry for the nearly 2 million incarcerated in the US.[1][2][3] Early traction came from its B Corp certification in July 2015 and partnerships with facilities, evolving into a leader in edtech for prisons with a focus on human-centered design, ethical economics, and employing 15% justice-impacted staff.[1][3] Pivotal moments include recent launches like the AI Discovery Lab in 2025 and ecosystem recognitions, humanizing its commitment to rewriting life stories post-incarceration.[2][3][6]
Orijin rides the edtech and criminal justice reform wave, leveraging AI, cloud SaaS, and secure hardware to digitize education in carceral settings amid rising demands for recidivism reduction (affecting 2 million incarcerated) and workforce pipelines.[2][3][6] Timing aligns with post-pandemic tech adoption in corrections, policy pushes for reentry programs, and employer needs for skilled, pre-vetted talent, amplified by labor shortages and DEI initiatives favoring second-chance hiring.[2][6][7] Market forces like cost pressures on facilities (e.g., safety, admin savings) and edtech scalability favor its turnkey model, influencing the ecosystem by setting standards for ethical tech in prisons—recognized by Fast Company and JFF—and bridging corrections to sustainable employment, potentially reshaping 2nd chance hiring norms.[2][6]
Orijin is poised to scale its AI-enhanced platform nationally, expanding partnerships with facilities and employers to deepen impact on recidivism and workforce readiness amid growing correctional edtech demand.[2][6] Trends like human-first AI, policy reforms, and talent shortages will propel growth, evolving its influence from niche innovator to ecosystem leader in justice-impacted upskilling. As the original edtech player in corrections, Orijin exemplifies how secure tech can rewrite life stories, turning incarceration's end into sustainable new beginnings.[3][6]
