8 minute read
Deals
Afya announces Pebmed’s acquisition
COMPANY: Afya Participações TARGET: Pebmed TRANSACTION: Acquisition CONSIDERATION: 132.9 million reais (£20.32 million)
Brazilian medical education group Afya has acquired Pebmed, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Afya Participações. Pebmed offers content and clinical decision applications. The net purchase price was 132.9 million reais, with the assumption of estimated net debt of 7.1 million reais, of which 86.8% was paid in cash, and 13.2% was paid in Afya’s stock.
Education value company raises $7.6m
COMPANY: AstrumU TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $7.6 million
AstrumU, a Seattle-based start-up that aims to calculate the value of educational experiences in the labour market has raised funding in a round led by Kingdom Capital, with participation from Heidrick Struggles chairman Adam Warby and DocuSign founder Court Lorenzini. KC Rise Fund and City Light Capital also invested, Geek Wire has reported.
Avanse Financial raises 250 crore rupees
COMPANY: Avanse Financial Services TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: 250 crore rupees (£26.4 million)
Warburg Pincus-led Avanse Financial Services has raised funding through the Reserve Bank of India’s targeted long-term repo operation (TLTRO 2.0) and the government’s partial credit guarantee (PCG) scheme, The Economic Times has reported. Avanse Financial Services is an education finance-focused non-banking finance company. It has received 100 crore rupees under the TLTRO 2.0 from public sector banks and 150 crore rupees through PCG scheme.
CampusLogic acquires funding platform
COMPANY: CampusLogic TARGET: RaiseMe TRANSACTION: Acquisition CONSIDERATION: Undisclosed
Higher education student financial aid company CampusLogic has acquired RaiseMe, a social enterprise focused on expanding access to higher education, especially among low-income and first-generation students. RaiseMe will remain located in San Francisco. CampusLogic is based in Chandler, Arizona.
Canva for Education raises $60m as valuation balloons to $6bn
COMPANY: Canva for Education TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $60 million
Sydney-based ed tech unicorn Canva for Education has raised new funding as its valuation reached $6 billion. Canva enables users to design “anything and publish anywhere” using drag-and-drop tools.
Coursera raises $130m
COMPANY: Coursera TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $130 million
Mountain View, California-based Coursera, the learning platform that offers online classes taught by instructors at top universities, has raised funding, Forbes has reported. The round was led by venture firm NEA, with participation from other investors including Kleiner Perkins and G Squared.
Discovery Education acquires Spiral
COMPANY: Discovery Education TARGET: Spiral TRANSACTION: Acquisition CONSIDERATION: Undisclosed
Discovery Education, a provider of digital curriculum content and professional learning for primary and secondary schools, has acquired Spiral, a platform which supports collaborative learning and formative assessment in the classroom and at home. In the UK Discovery Education is based in Hammersmith, London. Its parent company is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Spiral is headquartered in east London.
Dragoneer invests $120m in CampusLogic
COMPANY: Dragoneer Investment Group TARGET: CampusLogic TRANSACTION: Investment CONSIDERATION: $120 million
San Francisco investment company Dragoneer Investment Group has invested in education technology company CampusLogic, Crunchbase has reported. Phoenix-based CampusLogic provides financial tools and resources to help US students understand the processes that can create barriers to student enrolment, engagement and retention.
Vernacular learning platform raises $3.1m
COMPANY: Entri TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $3.1 million
Entri, a Kochi-based start-up has closed a pre-Series A financing round, led by Good Capital, with participation from TN Hari, head of human resources at online grocery start-up BigBasket, and HyperTrack founder Kashyap Deorah, Techcrunch has reported. Entri provides offers upskilling courses, delivered in the language with which they are most comfortable, to help its customers pass exams to secure jobs with state and federal governments in India.
EV Private Equity acquires training platform
COMPANY: EV Private Equity TARGET: Trainor TRANSACTION: Acquisition CONSIDERATION: Undisclosed
EV Private Equity, which focuses on the energy sector, has acquired a majority stake in Tønsberg-based Trainor, a Norwegian training platform used by the global energy, renewables, power and grid, and maritime industries. EV Private Equity is based in Stavanger, Norway.
KnowFully acquires CME Outfitters
COMPANY: KnowFully Learning Group TARGET: CME Outfitters TRANSACTION: Acquisition CONSIDERATION: Undisclosed
Wayne, Pennsylvania-based KnowFully Learning Group, a provider of continuing professional education and exam preparation courses to the healthcare, accounting and finance sectors, has acquired Bethesda, Maryland-based CME Outfitters, an accredited provider of continuing medical education.
COMPANY: Moonbug Entertainment TARGET: CoComelon and Blippi TRANSACTION: Acquisition CONSIDERATION: Undisclosed
London-based Moonbug Entertainment has acquired CoComelon and Blippi, two of the world’s most successful children’s educational programmes.
Online art education platform Meishubao raises $40m
COMPANY: Meishubao TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $40 million
Zhejiang-based online painting learning platform Meishubao has completed a Series C+ funding round led by Tencent Holdings, Capital Watch has reported. Shunwei Capital, backed by Hong Kong-listed Xiaomi Corp, Bojia Capital, BlueRun Ventures, Hony Capital, and Welight Capital also participated in the round.
Odilo raises $10m
COMPANY: Odilo TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $10 million
Odilo, a Spanish scale-up with offices around the globe which provides unlimited digital content and collaborative learning services for the personal and professional development of individuals, has closed a financing round.
Permira acquires Chinese division of EF Education First
COMPANY: Permira TARGET: EF Kids & Teens TRANSACTION: Acquisition CONSIDERATION: Undisclosed
Global investment firm Permira and EF Education First announced that a company backed by the Permira Funds has agreed to acquire a majority stake in the EF Kids & Teens business headquartered in Switzerland with schools in China and Indonesia. EF will retain a significant ownership in the Kids & Teens business.
Rah Rah raises $2.8m in seed funding
COMPANY: Rah Rah TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $2.8 million
New York-headquartered Rah Rah, a community engagement system for higher education, has raised personal seed funding from Workday cofounder and chairman Dave Duffield and Workday vice-chairman Phil Wilmington.
Cybersecurity training firm raises $16m
COMPANY: RangeForce TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $16 million
Manassas, Virginia-based RangeForce, the cloud-based cybersecurity training firm, has raised a Series A round led by Energy Impact Partners. Paladin Capital Group continues its longstanding support of RangeForce as part of the round which also included existing firm Trind, as well as a new investment from Cisco Investments.
Riiid closes $41.8m funding round
COMPANY: Riiid TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $41.8 million
Seoul-based Riiid, an AI education solutions start-up has secured a pre-Series D funding round, including investment from the state-run Korea Development Bank, Nvestor, Intervest, as well as from existing investor IMM Investment.
Laureate Education offloads Australasian portfolio for $643m
COMPANY: Strategic Education TARGET: Torrens University Australia, Think Education and Media Design School TRANSACTION: Acquisition CONSIDERATION: US$643 million
Baltimore, Maryland-based Laureate Education has sold its Australia and New Zealand portfolio to Strategic Education, as the private university operator continues its divestment strategy. The all-cash transaction will see Herndon, Virginia-based Strategic Education take control of Torrens University Australia, Think Education and Media Design School.
Stride Funding secures additional capital
COMPANY: Stride Funding TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: Undisclosed
San Francisco-based education funding start-up, Stride Funding has raised additional venture funding and has secured additional investment capital for its Income Share Agreement (ISA) Fund. The new round of venture funding was led by New U Venture Partners, anchored by Western Governors University, while the ISA investment capital was committed by multibillion-dollar impact investors.
Second language firm raises $4.5m
COMPANY: Tandem TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: £4.5 million
Berlin-based start-up Tandem, an app for practising a second language, has closed a funding round led by European venture capital firm Brighteye Ventures, with participation by Trind Ventures, Rubylight and GPS Ventures, TechCrunch has reported.
TeleTeachers closes Series A
COMPANY: TeleTeachers TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $2.8 million
Chicago-based TeleTeachers, a provider of technology-enabled learning and therapy solutions has completed a $2,785,000 Series A equity private placement, with lead investors Seyen Capital’s senior managing director George Spencer and Jerry Putnam (founder of Archipelago Holdings, and former chairman of OptionsHouse and president of the New York Stock Exchange).
Toppr raises $46m
COMPANY: Tandem TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $46 million
Toppr, a Mumbai-based online learning start-up, has secured a Series D funding round led by Foundation Holdings, with participation by existing investor Kaizen Private Equity, Techcrunch has reported.
Vedantu co-founder’s ed tech start-up raises seed funding
COMPANY: Trulearn Spaces TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: Undisclosed
Trulearn Spaces, which operates Bengaluru-based children-focused ed tech start-up Uable, has raised a sum as part of its seed funding round, VC Circle has reported. The round in Uable was led by early-stage venture capital firm 3one4 Capital, with participation from Global Founders Capital, Inflection Point Ventures, AngelList, as well as angel investors including Amrish Rau and Jitendra Gupta.
UWorld acquires online bar exam prep firm
COMPANY: UWorld TARGET: Themis Bar Review TRANSACTION: Acquisition CONSIDERATION: Undisclosed
Online exam preparation company UWorld, has acquired Themis Bar Review, which provides online bar review courses. UWorld is based in Dallas; Themis Bar Review is headquartered in Chicago
Vedantu raises $100m in Series D funding
COMPANY: Vedantu TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: $100 million
Vedantu, a live online tutoring company based in Bengaluru, has raised funding as part of a Series D round, led by New York-based investment firm Coatue, with participation from existing investors. The Rainmaker Group acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Vedantu on its fundraising.
Weld North Education acquires social emotional learning curriculum company
COMPANY: Weld North Education TARGET: Purpose Prep TRANSACTION: Acquisition CONSIDERATION: Undisclosed
Weld North Education (WNE), a K12 digital curriculum company has acquired Purpose Prep, a technology-based online course provider focused on social and emotional learning. WNE and Edgenuity are based in Scottsdale, Arizona; Purpose Prep is headquartered in Clawson, Michigan.
COMPANY: Your Favourite Teacher TRANSACTION: Fundraising CONSIDERATION: Undisclosed
Ed tech platform Your Favourite Teacher (YFT) is raising capital to expand its operations through Growthdeck, the private equity investment firm. YFT is a virtual classroom for GCSE students, which augments and supports the existing Key Stage 4 curriculum with rich video content, automated marking and pupil performance tracking.
