Troy Gunawardene, a first-year student at Northeastern University studying computer science and business administration, is the epitome of an entrepreneur who thrives on disruption. As the co-founder of GradeScout, an education technology startup he launched in high school, Gunawardene has created a platform that simplifies how students access and understand their grades online. The service, which includes features like a GPA calculator and grade update notifications, has attracted over 12,000 monthly users.
Gunawardene’s decision to attend Northeastern was influenced by several factors, including the university’s ability to combine majors, its robust co-op program, and its vibrant entrepreneurship ecosystem. “It started as a high school passion project,” he explains. “After coming here, I started taking advantage of every opportunity I could to push it further and make it into a real startup.”
One of the first steps Gunawardene took was joining the Entrepreneur’s Club and participating in the Husky Startup Challenge. This experience helped him refine his pitch for GradeScout to potential investors. He won second place and a social media award at the event, catching the attention of Tom Stanford, a graduate and entrepreneur who will be launching FuzionX, a co-build company supporting early-stage technology startups. GradeScout is set to be one of the five companies in the initial cohort that Stanford will work with.
Gunawardene’s progress at Northeastern has been swift. He is now the director of software development at the Entrepreneur’s Club and the director of partnerships at Rev, a new student organization based on Northeastern’s Mosaic entrepreneurship alliance. He continues to pitch GradeScout, recently participating in the Boston Accelerator Showcase and Yard Sale @ Northeastern. GradeScout has also received a grant from the Mosaic Prototype Fund.
“Having numbers to back up the usage and credibility of GradeScout definitely opens a lot of doors,” Gunawardene says, reflecting on the opportunities available to him at Northeastern.
As GradeScout continues to grow, Gunawardene’s experience at Northeastern is providing him with the ideal environment to nurture his startup. With the support of the university’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, Gunawardene is well-positioned to take GradeScout to the next level.
