This continues to be a busy time for mergers, acquisitions, and new investments across the education space, as COVID-19 prompts companies to search for new deals that boost their portfolios or hold the promise of solid returns.
A few highlights:
Achieve3000 acquires Teachonomy. Differentiated instruction provider Achieve3000 has acquired Teachonomy, a platform that specializes in professional development for teachers.
The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Achieve3000 moved its teacher trainings online earlier in 2020, and the company’s professional development sessions were arranged into 60-90-minute virtual bites, with topics catering to hybrid and remote learning, along with students and families.
“Now we’re thinking about how to productize professional development,” Achieve3000 CEO Stuart Udell said in a statement. “So, it’s archived as a large compendium of virtual digital assets that can be consumed in the moment.”
Frontline acquires SuccessEd. Malvern, Pa.-based Frontline Education, a provider of K-12 administrative software, has acquired SuccessEd, a Texas-based provider of K-12 software that tracks compliance and services offered to students in special education, Frontline announced.
“Our combined organization will drive additional value and an enhanced client experience for our partners in special education management across the country,” Frontline Education CEO Mark Gruzin said in a statement.
As part of Frontline’s portfolio, SuccessEd clients will have access to a broad portfolio of connected solutions built for K-12 schools and proactively adapted to the changing ways schools operate, Frontline’s announcement says.
The Frontline-SuccessEd portfolio will support areas including special education, English language learning, gifted and talented students, Medicaid and service management programs for over 3,000 clients across the U.S.
“We are excited to join the growing Frontline Education family in our shared commitment to serving and supporting special education and special programs for schools in Texas and across the other states we serve,” SuccessEd CEO Jim Bridges said in a statement.
“We know our clients will continue to benefit from our best practices while also realizing the value of Frontline’s breadth of resources and national reach to expand our impact on the special education community.”
Encantos raises over $5 million. Culver City, Calif.-based Encantos, which helps kids develop literacy, learning and life skills through digital and physical play, announced it has raised $5.7 million from two separate funding rounds.
The latest round, a $3.2 million seed round, was led by Precursor Ventures, and saw participation from Angeles Ventures, Concrete Rose Capital, Metrodora Ventures, Next Play Ventures, Portfolia’s Rising America Fund, and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund.
The earlier $2.5 million round saw participation from former NBA all-star Baron Davis, Morales Capital CEO Angel Morales, and international business executive Sol Trijillo, who is also Encantos’ board chairman.
Funds will help Encantos accelerate subscription services that are meant to deliver entertaining and engaging digital and physical learning products for preschool and primary school-age children, Encantos’ announcement says.
New fundraising for Byju’s. The India-based company has raised $200 million, lifting the firm’s valuation to $12 billion, according to a report in Business Standard, an Indian publication.
Private equity firms BlackRock and T Rowe Price are said to have participated in the round, according to the report, with T Rowe Price stepping on as a new investor.
The fundraise for Byju’s follows investment rounds in July and September, which bumped the company’s valuation up to an estimated $10.5 billion and $11.1 billion, respectively.
Byju’s has more than 70 million registered students and 4.5 million yearly paid subscribers.
Indian SaaS education startup raises $300,000. India-based startup Lancify has raised a $300,000 funding round, according to a report in Indian publication YourStory.
The round was backed by Techstars, Under 25, former Babajob executive Vir Kashyap; Brennan Loh, executive at Shopify; Krish Ramachandran, executive at Freshworks; Anil Advani, founder of Inventus Law; and Ravi and Deepa Joshi, founders of Keystone Logic.
Lancify teaches young people new-age skills related to trending SaaS tools, equipping them to take on freelance work in verticals including digital marketing, design, analytics, and others.
The company will add 10 courses in 2021 and grow its network of highly upskilled youth, according to the publication.
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See also:
- K-12 Dealmaking: PowerSchool Acquires Hoonuit; Carnegie Learning Receives Strategic Growth Investment
- K-12 Dealmaking: Advance to Acquire Turnitin; Weld North Education Purchases Glynlyon
- K-12 Dealmaking: Varsity Tutors Raises $50 Million; Turnitin Acquires VeriCite
- Carnegie Learning Merges with New Mountain Learning, With Focus on Content and Delivery
- Got a Research Base? Ed-Tech Certification Offers Companies a Chance to Prove It
- K-12 Dealmaking: Advance to Acquire Turnitin; Weld North Education Purchases Glynlyon