Clarity Financial

What Clarity Financial does

Clarity Financial, Inc. is a Delaware-incorporated, U.S.-based SaaS company founded in 2021 that sells an integrated platform to K-12 private schools for financial aid processing, enrollment contract generation, tuition billing, and (announced) admissions management. The platform was officially launched on July 1, 2023, and is built around a cloud-based architecture that links Financial Aid, Contracts, and Billing modules so award decisions flow directly into compliant contract generation and recurring billing. Its most differentiated technical component is automated IRS tax verification for K-12 financial aid, an approach inspired by how FAFSA retrieves tax data, combined with household-level data isolation, SOC 2 Type 2 and GDPR compliance, and an end-to-end encryption security posture.

The company serves U.S. K-12 private (independent) schools — Financial Aid Directors, Business Officers, and Enrollment Managers, as well as the families applying to those schools — and had grown to 1,400+ partner schools by 2025 from roughly 100 at its founding. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales led by dedicated Client Success Managers with 10+ years of in-school experience, supplemented by strong presence at industry conferences (EMA, AISAP, NACAC) where over 60% of EMA 2023 attendees were already Clarity partners. Revenue is generated through quote-based SaaS subscriptions (annual cadence) plus transaction/convenience fees on credit/debit card payments, with pricing not publicly disclosed.

Clarity has raised approximately $6.5M across two disclosed financing tranches in February 2024 ($5.0M) and February 2025 ($1.5M) from undisclosed investors, employs 51-100 people on a remote-first basis, and is led by co-founders Brennan Stark (CEO, previously founder of Ravenna), Matt Sherman (CTO), and Rich Sedmak (COO). Reported customer outcomes include 10-12% tuition revenue uplift, 5-15% multi-year revenue growth, 20-30 hours saved weekly per school, a partner NPS of 92, and 94% of families rating support at 4 out of 5 or higher. An Admissions Platform is in development as a fourth product line, extending the company's footprint earlier into the enrollment funnel.

Name

Clarity Financial

Legal name

Clarity Financial, Inc.

Website

https://clarityschools.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Clarity Financial is a SaaS platform serving U.S. K-12 private schools with integrated Financial Aid, Contracts, and Billing modules, using automated IRS tax verification to streamline enrollment workflows for administrators and families.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 School Enrollment Management Software

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

Financial Aid Systems, Reporting, Audit & Data Management (EDALAJAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Student Billing, Invoicing & Account Statements (EDALAJAC), Payments, Cashiering & Payment Plans (EDALAJAE), Financial Aid Systems, Disbursement & Payment Operations (EDADAHAJ)

Keywords

• K-12 enrollment management
• Financial aid software
• Tuition management
• Private school billing
• School contract management

Headquarters

HQ city

Lynnwood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Platform Subscription: Schools pay subscription fees for access to the Clarity platform including Financial Aid, Contracts, and Billing modules. The Terms of Use mention account fees and convenience fees for credit/debit card payments.
2. Transaction/Payment Processing: Clarity charges convenience fees for credit/debit card transactions. Schools can offer flexible payment plans managed through the platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Clarity Financial operates a cloud-based SaaS platform purpose-built for K-12 private schools to manage enrollment, financial aid, contracts, and tuition billing in one integrated system. The platform pioneered IRS tax verification for K-12 financial aid processing and connects Financial Aid, Contracts, and Billing modules so data flows seamlessly across the enrollment lifecycle.

Product overview

Clarity Financial is a unified K-12 private school management platform with a modular architecture consisting of four integrated products: Financial Aid (core platform for need-based aid processing with IRS tax verification), Contracts (for enrollment agreement generation), Billing/Tuition Management (for payment processing and plans), and Incidental Billing (for additional charge collection). All modules are designed to work together as an integrated platform, sharing data across financial aid awards, contract generation, and billing. An Admissions Platform is announced as coming soon. The platform serves K-12 private schools and is designed to attract, enroll, and retain families while helping schools optimize net tuition revenue.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Clarence T. Owl: Company mascot - an owl character originally created to assist users in finding their way back to the Clarity app on 404 error pages. Evolved into company mascot and internal chat bot assistant named Clarence.

Products and services

• Financial Aid Cloud-based financial aid application and awarding module for K-12 private schools. Pioneered IRS tax verification that automatically pulls tax documents to streamline applications, eliminate manual entry, and support fair aid decisions. Trusted by over 1,000 schools.
• Contracts Module for generating personalized, compliant enrollment contracts tied to each family's financial aid package. Automatically reflects aid awards and family selections with real-time payment schedule updates.
• Billing (Tuition Management) Flexible tuition management and billing module integrated with Financial Aid and Contracts. Supports configurable payment plans, payment processing, and reduces manual billing work for school business offices.

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• FACTS Management (Nelnet Campus Commerce): Largest incumbent in K-12 tuition management, billing, and financial aid, owned by Nelnet. Directly competes with Clarity's Financial Aid, Contracts, and Billing modules for the same private school buyers and offers a deeply entrenched SIS-adjacent solution.
• Gradelink: All-in-one SIS for K-12 schools covering admissions, billing, financial aid, and reporting. Comparable vertical-SaaS positioning to Clarity, particularly with smaller-to-mid-sized private schools.
• OpenApply: K-12 admissions and enrollment management platform serving private and independent schools. Closely comparable to Clarity's announced Admissions product on features and target buyer.
• MySchoolWorx: Cloud-based school management platform for small-to-mid private schools covering admissions, billing, and reporting. Comparable feature scope and buyer profile to Clarity's Financial Aid and Billing modules.
• Veracross: Unified K-12 school information system covering admissions, enrollment, development, and financial aid for private/independent schools. Comparable to Clarity across the enrollment and financial workflow stack with broader SIS breadth.
• Ravenna: K-12 admissions platform for private and independent schools, founded by Clarity's CEO Brennan Stark. Competes directly with Clarity's upcoming Admissions product and serves an overlapping private school buyer.
• TADS (Tuition Aid Data Services): Long-standing K-12 financial aid management and tuition billing platform used by many private and Catholic schools. Closest direct competitor to Clarity's Financial Aid product, particularly among mission-driven and religious schools.
• Finalsite Enrollment (formerly SchoolAdmin): Enrollment management and admissions software for private K-12 schools, now part of Finalsite's broader school communications platform. Directly comparable to Clarity's Admissions direction and adjacent to its Contracts module.

Broad incumbents

• Blackbaud: Large established provider of K-12 school management, tuition billing, fundraising, and financial aid software through products like Blackbaud Tuition Management and ON Products. Overlaps with Clarity across Financial Aid and Billing as part of a much broader portfolio.
• PowerSchool: Largest K-12 SIS vendor in North America, serving both public and private schools with broad functionality including enrollment, billing, and increasingly financial aid. Represents the dominant incumbent against which vertical specialists like Clarity must differentiate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/clarityschools

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Clarity Financial