Due Gooder, an artificial intelligence-driven academic planning platform founded by U.S. college students, said it has expanded to 2,100 schools nationwide, following a $90,000 pre-seed funding round in August aimed at scaling its technology and campus reach.
The Louisville-based edtech startup, launched in 2024 by Nate Royal, Ethan Havertape, and Finn McCormack, uses AI to extract assignments and exams from course syllabi and automatically generate smart calendars. The system integrates with Google Calendar, sends SMS reminders, and recommends AI-calculated start dates for projects and tests.
Royal, the company’s co-founder and chief executive, said the latest funding helped the team accelerate onboarding across universities.
“Students aren’t missing deadlines because they’re lazy,” Royal said. “They’re overwhelmed. Due Gooder removes that friction by automating planning, so the syllabus itself becomes the schedule.”
Due Gooder: Funding and early backing
Due Gooder participated in an accelerator round on August 15, 2025, securing $25,000 from The Vogt Awards, a Louisville-based program supporting early-stage innovators. 5 days later, the company raised an additional $90,000 in pre-seed funding, as reported by LeadsOnTrees, bringing total early backing to $115,000.
The funds, the company said, are being used to strengthen product infrastructure, enhance user experience, and expand its footprint across U.S. universities. PitchBook lists the firm with a headcount of fewer than ten employees and classifies it under “Other Services (B2C Non-Financial).”
AI tool built by students
Due Gooder was developed by a team of college students and young developers who encountered the same organizational problems they set out to solve. Royal, a computer science student with prior experience in AI-driven systems, began building the prototype after noticing that most of his classmates were missing assignments despite having detailed syllabi.
He met Ethan Havertape, now chief operating officer, at a University of Louisville hackathon, where they tested an early model. Finn McCormack, a business major at the University of Kentucky, later joined to manage operations and campus outreach.
The development team also includes Ron Kommoji of Georgia Tech, Anh Hoang of the University of Kansas, and Rishi Reshwant Borra, a high school student with internship experience at MIT and Carnegie Mellon. The startup has also enlisted student content creators and campus ambassadors to promote adoption.
Due Gooder’s founders cite academic research showing that planning significantly improves student outcomes. The company says students who fail to plan miss twice as many assignments, while planners can cut missed work by 65%. Purdue University research links structured planners with higher GPAs, and surveys show 93% of students say planners help manage stress, though fewer than 5% use them regularly.
By automating planning from the syllabus, Due Gooder aims to make consistent organization effortless. “We’re not just digitizing a planner,” Royal said. “We’re creating a system that adapts to how students actually work.”
Campus reach and next phase
Since August, the company has expanded rapidly through university partnerships and student ambassador programs, reaching over 2,100 colleges and universities by November 2025. Much of the growth has been organic, driven by student referrals and social media traction.
“Our best marketing has been word of mouth,” said co-founder Havertape. “Once one student uploads a syllabus and sees their semester mapped out automatically, they tell their entire study group.”
The founders say Due Gooder’s technology can eventually extend beyond education, serving professionals who manage complex projects and deadlines. The team plans to adapt the platform for high school students and later for workplace productivity.
Royal said the company’s long-term goal is to make Due Gooder a standard planning tool that bridges the academic and professional worlds. “We see AI as a personal companion in productivity, one that can predict when users will fall behind and help them get ahead,” he said.
Due Gooder’s early traction positions it among a new wave of student-led edtech ventures emerging from university campuses, blending academic insight with practical AI applications.
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