IN NETWORK
A Person You Should Know
Who He Is: Chris Besse is a Partner and Chief Commercial Officer at Edsby, a learning management system for K-12. Chris is an experienced and recognized leader with a history in the e-learning industry. Prior to joining the Edsby team, he served as CEO at EdgeMakers and FreshGrade and prior to that, SVP and Managing Director, K-12 at Nelson Education. Chris joined Edsby in September of 2020 to help drive global growth. Pointing Out Potential: Having worked in and led edtech companies for over 30 years, Chris was close to the needs of K-12 school districts and was astounded to discover just how superior a service Edsby was and quickly realized the company’s vast market potential. The Edsby platform’s unique and comprehensive breadth of features provides K-12 education with the richest set of engagement and data management capabilities available in a single application. Chris started down the path with Edsby as an investor, but the more he learned, the more excited he became. Early Success: In the same month that Chris joined Edsby, he felt compelled to chart a path for the company’s success by leading an investment round, securing $5.3 million in Series A financing to boost growth worldwide. Based in Toronto, Edsby has had good traction in North America and is expanding to select regions worldwide. Edsby has been architected from day one to be customizable to incorporate local educational policies and terminologies for a wide range of districts, regions and countries in different languages.
CHRIS
BESSE
Partner and Chief Commercial Officer Edsby Ontario, Canada
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FLUENTIAL JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2021
Long-lasting Confidence: Before joining the team, Chris understood how Edsby had proven itself over the last 10 years to be the right technology for its market. In K-12, there’s been wide adoption of free software like Google Classroom and other edtech point solutions. But districts and regions, particularly in these challenging times of online learning, have been hitting the limits of what lightweight systems can do. In 2020, Edsby won EdTech Startup of the Year, Best Parent-Teacher/School Communication App or Tool, Best Learning Management System and Best Classroom Management System. Chris is confident in Edsby’s future success in K-12, with its modern, born-in-the-cloud architecture built specifically for the unique requirements of big data, mobile and social media.
