What Unlocked Labs does

Unlocked Labs is a St. Louis-based nonprofit founded in 2022 that builds open-source, modular digital infrastructure for correctional facilities. The company's core product, UnlockEd, is a modular education and reentry platform that delivers educational, rehabilitative, and workforce training content with single sign-on integrations to learning management systems such as Canvas and Moodle, while tracking program participation, credentialing, and earned-release crediting in real time. The platform is complemented by I.D. for access and identity management, INSIGHT for data dashboards and outcome tracking, and service modules covering strategic planning (PLAN), network implementation (NETWORK), and hardware procurement (COMPUTE). Tools are designed to be open-source and interoperable, avoiding vendor lock-in for state customers.

The company serves U.S. state Departments of Corrections as its primary customer segment, with active deployments across five states including Maine, Alaska, Missouri, and Illinois, plus the St. Louis City Jail. Unlocked Labs operates a partnership-based go-to-market model, running pilots in individual facilities before scaling to statewide implementations and providing strategy, policy support, and procurement guidance alongside the technology stack. The organization is funded through philanthropic donations from foundations including Ascendium, Mellon, Milken, Schmidt, New Profit, Blue Ridge, Roddenberry, Kaplan, and others, with in-kind support from Pluralsight.

A defining organizational characteristic is that over 50% of Unlocked Labs' engineering team is justice-impacted, including currently incarcerated developers working on active product teams, and co-founders Jessica Hicklin and Chris Santillan themselves spent decades inside Potosi Correctional Center organizing education before being released following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on juvenile life-without-parole sentences. The company has also partnered with Arizona State University on research into sentence calculation and recordkeeping issues, and has trained 350+ incarcerated learners in coding since 2017.

Name

Unlocked Labs

Legal name

Unlocked Labs

Website

https://unlockedlabs.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Corrections Technology / Prison Digital Infrastructure

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Vocational Rehabilitation Services (62431), Computer Training (611420)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

LMS Integrations, Interoperability & Identity (LTI/SCORM/xAPI, SSO, APIs) (EDAFAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Correctional Education Programs (Community College-Delivered) (EDAHADAN), Secure Browser, Device Lockdown & Exam Security Tools (EDAFADAI), Managed IT Services & On‑Site Field Support (Helpdesk, Break/Fix, IMAC) (EDAEAHAJ)

Keywords

• Correctional digital infrastructure
• Incarcerated education platforms
• Prison program tracking
• Earned release crediting
• Justice reform technology

Headquarters

HQ city

St Louis

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, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Funding: Unlocked Labs is a nonprofit organization that relies on charitable donations from individuals, foundations, and organizations to fund its operations and technology development.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Unlocked Labs builds open-source, modular digital infrastructure for state correctional facilities, centered on its UnlockEd education and reentry platform with single sign-on integration to LMS tools (Canvas, Moodle), real-time program and credential tracking, and earned release crediting. Supporting modules include I.D. for access and identity management and INSIGHT for outcome dashboards, alongside services covering network deployment, hardware procurement, and strategic planning for state Departments of Corrections.

Product overview

Unlocked Labs offers a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on UnlockEd, an open-source modular education and reentry platform. The core UNLOCKED product provides Program Access (integrating LMS tools like Canvas and Moodle via single sign-on) and Program Tracking (real-time participation tracking, credentialing, and earned release crediting). Supporting modules include I.D. for access infrastructure and identity management, and INSIGHT for data systems and dashboards. Complementary services cover PLAN (strategic planning and consulting), NETWORK (network implementation and support), and COMPUTE (hardware procurement and device management), enabling states to implement comprehensive digital infrastructure for justice reform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UnlockEd: A modular education and reentry platform that delivers high-quality education, rehabilitation, and workforce training opportunities with integrated program tracking, credentialing, and earned release crediting.

Products and services

• UnlockEd Open-source modular education and reentry platform for state corrections departments and incarcerated learners. Delivers education, rehabilitation, and workforce training with single sign-on integration to LMS tools (Canvas, Moodle) and provides real-time program participation, credentialing, progress documentation, and earned release crediting that survives facility transfers.
• I.D. (Access Infrastructure & Identity Management) Access infrastructure and identity management module that handles device and network complexities in the background, enabling corrections officials to provision program access and manage roles and permissions at scale.
• INSIGHT (Data Systems & Dashboards) Integrated data systems and dashboards that allow state corrections departments to track metrics of success and program effectiveness, including participation, credentialing, and earned-time eligibility, making progress visible and actionable.
• PLAN (Strategic Planning & Consulting) Strategic planning and consulting service that supports state corrections departments in designing comprehensive strategies for resident-facing technology, including secure network design, hardware planning, procurement guidance, and implementation roadmaps.
• NETWORK (Network Implementation & Support) Network implementation and support services that help state corrections departments deploy and manage secure, scalable, and policy-compliant resident networks supporting education, reentry, service delivery, and data collection.
• COMPUTE (Hardware Procurement & Device Management) Hardware procurement and device management services that help state corrections departments identify, deploy, and manage classroom labs and 1:1 devices, balancing security, flexibility, and user needs.

Quantifiable outcome

• States can effectively implement policy changes to reduce incarceration and taxpayer burdens while maintaining public safety confidence
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Arizona State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner
• Local Colleges (Partner with State DOCs)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner
• State Departments of CorrectionscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• The Last Mile: Nonprofit that trains incarcerated individuals in software engineering and operates inside correctional facilities. Closely comparable in mission, coding-education delivery model inside prisons, and technology-for-reentry focus.
• Edovo: Correctional education and rehabilitative content platform distributed via secure tablets in prisons and jails. Comparable as a competing correctional EdTech provider delivering self-paced learning, program tracking, and credentialing inside facilities.
• Recidiviz: Nonprofit building data and analytics tools for state corrections departments on recidivism, programming, and outcomes. Comparable as a nonprofit, corrections-focused tech provider selling data and measurement infrastructure to state DOCs — overlapping directly with Unlocked Labs' INSIGHT module.
• Code for America: Nonprofit technology organization that builds digital services for the justice system, including reentry and record-clearing tools. Comparable as a mission-driven civic-tech nonprofit partnering with state and county governments on justice reform technology.

Broad incumbents

• ViaPath Technologies: Largest provider of communications, payments, and technology services to correctional facilities (formerly GTL/JPay). Comparable as the dominant incumbent in corrections technology — overlapping in secure networks, device access, and resident-facing digital infrastructure, though with much broader scope and scale.
• Securus Technologies: Major provider of inmate communication, monitoring, and corrections technology. Comparable as a broad incumbent covering secure communications, device management, and analytics in correctional facilities — overlapping with Unlocked Labs' network and I.D. capabilities.
• Pearson (Corrections & Workforce Programs): Global education company with correctional testing and instructional products (e.g., GED, career-readiness assessments). Comparable as a credentialing and assessment provider within correctional education, though embedded within a much broader commercial EdTech portfolio.
• Appriss Insights: Provider of data, analytics, and risk intelligence to corrections, law enforcement, and government agencies. Comparable as a vendor supplying data systems and dashboards to state DOCs, overlapping conceptually with Unlocked Labs' INSIGHT data offering.

Emerging players

• Prison Entrepreneurship Program (PEP): Nonprofit delivering in-prison business and leadership education plus reentry support to incarcerated individuals in Texas. Comparable in mission and in-prison education delivery, though focused on in-person curriculum rather than digital infrastructure.

Others

• Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO): Nonprofit providing employment services to people returning from incarceration. Comparable in the broader reentry/rehabilitation ecosystem Unlocked Labs serves, though focused on post-release employment rather than in-facility technology.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/labs-unlocked

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 Unlocked Labs