School Bytes, with funding from Lighter Capital, goes to the head of the class

Getting Started

In May 2021 Lighter Capital provided School Bytes with AUD$650K of non dilutive funding.  With this capital, School Bytes will continue to grow its school management platform, saving valuable time for hundreds of Australian schools.  The School Bytes software creates a seamless process for requesting payments from parents, as well as keeping a history of all outbound communication with the school’s families.

Early Success

School Bytes CEO Blake Garrett has done more than your average 23-year-old.  Blake’s success started at an early age when he won his school tech competition.  In his last year of high school, he founded School Bytes, a cloud-based company that streamlines administrative tasks for schools in Australia.

“Lighter Capital helped us get the funding we needed at a critical time in our growth, allowing us to continue to aid schools around Australia with their everyday administrative tasks.”
–   Blake Garrett, CEO of School Bytes

School Bytes Features

After winning the YICTE (Young ICT Explorers) competition, two school districts immediately showed interest in Blake’s solution to the everyday hiccups that affect educational institutions.  School Bytes aids schools by providing a variety of features that help schools with managing a variety of tasks including tuition payments, parent communication, events, and selection of sports.

School Bytes features include:

• Payments module to help schools easily generate and email statements of accounts and payment reminders to parents

• Parent communication module to send personalized emails to parents and students, such as newsletters, general notifications, and direct messages.

• Event management feature allows school staff to create and manage excursions and events with staff and student groups including online permission notes all in one place for ease of use.

• Sport selection system enables students to select their activity choices online, which helps athletic directors manage preferences in an easy-to-use format.

Current Impact

Today, School Bytes is an active sponsor of the virtual YICTE competition, providing financial and judging support for similar students in the same position as Blake was several years ago.

“We are thrilled that Lighter Capital funding will enable School Bytes to continue on its impressive growth trajectory.  It’s a true privilege to work with founders like Blake.”
–   Melissa Widner, CEO at Lighter Capital