Philadelphia City Council Honors Scholly Founder Christopher Gray
Shark Tank alum receives local recognition for app designed to help students across the nation.
March 19, 2015
by Joseph Master
The Philadelphia City Council on Wednesday honored Drexel University finance and entrepreneurship major Christopher Gray for serving as an exemplary role model of entrepreneurship, and for the success of Scholly, the software application he created to improve access to scholarship support for aspiring college students.
The resolution, which was introduced by Philadelphia District City Council members Ed Neilson and Janine L. Blackwell, lauded Gray for his determination to help other college students find scholarship money.
“I want to thank the City of Philadelphia, especially councilwoman Blackwell and councilman Neilson,” Gray said. “This has been a great experience. I’ve been in Philadelphia for about four years now. My work here in Philly working with students… really inspired me to create Scholly, so I’m really happy that the program now has national awareness, and now has a cornerstone right here in Philadelphia.
LeBow College of Business and Close School of Entrepreneurship student Christopher Gray, center, with Ed Nielson (Gray's right), Janine L. Blackwell (Gray's left), and additional council members.
“Thank you, all for having me here. I really hope that I can continue to make Philly home and help as many students as possible.”
Gray’s recent appearance on ABC’s “Shark Tank” catapulted Scholly to the top of the iTunes app store, resulting in weeks of press coverage and television appearances, including the announcement of a partnership with Saxbys CEO Nick Bayer to provide Scholly free of charge to all seniors at Center City’s Science Leadership Academy.
“We are working on even more partnerships, raising a series A round and expending our team,” Gray said.