MillerCoors Gives Grant to Educational Services Start-Up

A Midtown-based education services company received a $50,000 grant from MillerCoors LLC that it will use to expand its operations.

Lauren Miller, co-founder and chief executive of Excelegrade was selected in MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneurs Series business plan competition.

Excelegrade works to improve classrooms by providing a state-of-the-art platform for standardized testing in K-12 classrooms. Miller, a former second grade teacher and co-founder, Jason Brein, of Excelegrade, created the technology to be used on tablets, smartphones and laptops to cut teachers' time spent on administrative duties to free them up to concentrate on teaching.

It was a time tug-o'-war she experienced firsthand as a teacher in the classroom.

“We are extremely thankful to MillerCoors for caring about urban entrepreneurs enough to provide these meaningful grants,” Miller said in a statement. “We hope to build a successful business with the $50,000 grant that not only helps teachers and students but ultimately is able to pay it forward to other entrepreneurs in a similar way.”

Excelegrade plans to use the business grant to grow the business and offer the service to more schools.

The MUES business plan competition was started 1999 as a resource for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and in turn, create jobs and make a powerful impact in their communities. The entrepreneurship program has granted more than $1.9 million dollars to small businesses since inception.

Excelegrade plans to use the business grant to grow her business and offer the valuable service to more schools. MillerCoors awarded a total of $160,000 to five outstanding small businesses across the United States as part of its entrepreneurship program that has granted more than $1.9 million dollars to small businesses since 1999.

“For more than a decade the MUES program has empowered small businesses to create more jobs and boost the economy in their communities,” Larry Waters, MillerCoors' senior director of community commerce and partnerships, said in a statement.

The winners will be presented with their respective business grants at a special reception on Thursday, April 25 at MillerCoors corporate headquarters in Chicago.