HMTA portfolio company, Finnegan The Dragon, has just received a significant SBIR grant to support its work in early childhood literacy
Updated information as of 9/23/2024: Finnegan the Dragon has just announced that it has won a SBIR grant from the National Institute of Health and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Foundation to support their work with early childhood literacy. We got great support from in our application process from Head Start of Orgeon and COmmunity Action of Washington County.
HMTA is pleased to announce that we have partnered with our friends at Portland Seed Fund to back Finnegan the Dragon, a very exciting early learning company. Finnegan The Dragon (FTD) was a winner in the Early Stage Competition at the Bend Venture Conference in October of 2023.
FTD uses music to advance the language skills of children ages 2 to 6. This is an important national problem because heavy use of various screens are slowing language development–especially among minority communities.
FTD’s founder, Emily Cadiz, is an extremely impressive woman. You can learn about her story and the difficult events that led her to found the company by watching this story from KGW News in Portland, OR. After accomplishing much, including being Miss Oregon and first runner up for Miss America, graduating from Columbia and earning two masters degrees, Emily was attacked in her classroom while working as a special education teacher. She lost the power of speech and had to learn to connect thoughts and words all over again. It was that terrifying and painful process that guided Emily to the insights about learning that are the foundation of FTD.
One of the fundamental truths of early stage investing is that the founder is one of the most critical components of a venture’s success. “We have been incredibly impressed by Emily both via the Bend Venture Conference and in our direct dealings,”said Peter Horan. “We believe that the perseverance and creativity that she has demonstrated in overcoming her personal challenges, will form the basis of her success at FInnegan the Dragon.”
Finnegan the Dragon, is currently entering the market through partnerships with Head Start programs across Oregon.