Politics

When Texas chose a company to roll out the state’s $1 billion private school voucher program, it passed over more established vendors in favor of a four-year-old tech startup that said it could do it for almost half the cost.

Now, Odyssey must execute on its promises to meet an aggressive timeline while avoiding missteps that have dogged other program launches.

The New York-based company has rapidly expanded in recent years, launching programs in eight states that subsidize students’ private education costs with taxpayer dollars.

In Texas, the startup is tasked with advertising the program, running the lottery to choose the students who participate and setting up the online marketplace where families can spend their state funds on private school tuition, tutors, computers and other approved items.