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When Dario Anaya first met José Antonio Tijerino, CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, he received a piece of advice that became his life’s north star:
“If you can’t pass the torch to someone else when you’re in a better spot, then you don’t deserve to hold it in the first place.”
That philosophy now drives Pupil, the edtech startup Anaya founded to guide high school students — especially first-generation, low-income and underrepresented teens — through one of life’s most confusing and consequential decisions: where and how to go to college.
The Problem He Lived
Growing up in a first-gen, low-income household, Anaya didn’t have the grades, the connections or the roadmap to college. Known more for mischief than academics, he turned a corner only after marching into his high school dean’s office and pitching himself for another chance. The dean agreed — and became a mentor who helped transform him from one of the worst students in his class to one of the best.
“I was considered a failure,” Anaya said. “I built Pupil so other underestimated students could discover their untapped potential earlier and greater than I did.”
A Platform for Identity-Driven Guidance
Pupil is a web and mobile platform that helps parents and high schoolers make better college and career decisions — filling the gap left by limited personal networks, overburdened school counselors and overwhelming, generic advice. It matches students with near-peer college mentors who share their interests and backgrounds, meeting virtually two to four times a month.
The platform’s built-in tools — icebreaker prompts, goal-setting templates and progress dashboards — keep mentorship structured and results-driven. Students can also “follow” universities to get curated, authentic content directly from the campus community.
While open to all, Pupil’s mission is rooted in equity. The platform is free for students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, SNAP or Common App fee waivers. Families who don’t qualify can subscribe annually, gaining access to live mentorship and Pupil’s proprietary MentorGPT tool.
Human + AI, Working Together
MentorGPT acts like a “big sibling at scale” at any college — delivering authentic, concise, 24/7 answers drawn from real, verified college student voices nationwide. It doesn’t replace live mentors; it extends their reach, offering immediate guidance between sessions on topics from campus culture to career prep.
“It’s not meant to replace our mentors,” Anaya said. “It’s meant to accelerate them.”
Early Wins, Real Impact
Pupil’s first mentee, Monica, was a first-gen, low-income student who had never heard of programs like Matriculate or QuestBridge — or imagined she could attend the University of Pennsylvania. With guidance, she discovered all three, earned admission and transformed her family’s trajectory.
“Pupil wasn’t the reason Monica got in,” Anaya said. “It was the reason she found those opportunities.”
Since launch, Pupil has grown to more than 560 mentors from over 105 universities, representing institutions from Harvard to Howard. The company is exploring partnerships with the New York State Education Department to make the program available statewide, backed by research from NYU.
From Cold Email to Campus Founder
Anaya’s NYU journey started with a cold email. As a high school student, he reached out to entrepreneurship programs nationwide. Only one responded: NYU’s Entrepreneurial Institute. Executive Director Frank Rimalovski took the time to engage with his early ideas — an experience that led Anaya to earn a full scholarship to NYU Gallatin, where he studies economics, technology and philosophy.
Through NYU’s Summer Launchpad accelerator, Anaya refined Pupil’s business model, sharpened its ideal customer profile and built product defensibility.
Backed by Industry Leaders
Pupil’s team combines lived experience with technical depth. Anaya brings a background in venture capital and research. The company’s engineers have AI/ML experience at a16z-backed startups and college consulting firms. Advisors include Stephen Smith, founder of Naviance — one of the most influential edtech platforms in the country — and a Dean of Admissions at a major university; both serve on the Board of Common App.
The Road Ahead
Anaya is clear-eyed about the challenges: “For every mentor who believed in me, there were hundreds telling me to give up and just focus on school.” He keeps a Steve Jobs quote close: “Some years you win, and some years you build character.”
That character now fuels his ambition to make Pupil the most innovative, accessible, and identity-driven high school-to-college platform of this generation — passing the torch to millions of students ready to run with it.
