K-12 Dealmaking: Edlio Acquires Parent Communication App; Excelligence Acquires CCEI

Contributing Writer

In this week’s dealmaking news, Edlio, a provider of content management systems for the K-12 market, and early childhood education tools and solutions company Excelligence announced acquisitions. In addition, K-12 software provider Pear Deck raised $4 million.

Edlio Acquires Mobile Parent Communication Platform Sangha: Edlio, a provider of custom content management systems for schools and school districts, has acquired Sangha, a parent interaction app. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Edlio and Sangha will combine internal resources, “pairing Sangha’s novel approach to personalized communication with Edlio’s agility to create in-demand products for a streamlined experience,” according to a statement.

Edlio noted its acquisition and integration of Sangha was made possible, in part, through an investment of $40 million by the private equity firm L Squared, that was announced last October.

Excelligence Learning Corporation Acquires ChildCare Education Institute: Excelligence Learning Corporation, a provider of educational tools and solutions to early childhood and elementary school teachers and parents, acquired ChildCare Education Institute (CCEI), according to a statement from the company.

CCEI, provides online professional development and data systems for the early child care and education market.

“CCEI represents a key addition to Excelligence’s Services division, which is focused on providing high value services to early childhood learning centers, elementary schools and PTAs,” according to Excelligence.

Last year, Excelligence added Really Good Stuff and equipment company Children’s Factory to its portfolio of brands. In 2014, private equity firm Brentwood Associates and its affiliates acquired a majority stake in Excelligence.

Pear Deck Raises $4 Million: K-12 software provider Pear Deck has raised $4 million from Growth Street Partners and existing investors, including Village Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and AOL Co-Founder Steve Case/Rise of the Rest.

Pear Decks’s software is designed to enable K-12 teachers, schools, and school districts to engage students, improve educational outcomes, and enhance the teacher experience.

“The partnership will allow us to accelerate growth, invest in products, optimize go-to-market, and remain focused on our primary mission of helping teachers engage all of their students, every day,” Riley Eynon-Lynch, co-founder and CEO of Pear Deck, said in a statement.

Rethink Education, Southern New Hampshire University Create Ed-Tech Fund: Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is teaming up with Rethink Education to create a new $15 million seed fund which will invest in ed-tech start-up companies, according to a statement from the university.

The $15 million investment will be allocated among more than two dozen companies at the seed stage, according to the statement, which noted that Rethink and SNHU “will work with early stage ed-tech companies across the country that are using technology and data-driven models to tackle stubborn challenges in the education to workforce pipeline, including access and affordability.”

Learning Equality Receives $5 Million Grant from Google.org: Education nonprofit Learning Equality has received a $5 million grant from Google.org’s Global Education Commitment, according to a blog posting from Learning Equality.

Google.org is the company’s philanthropic arm, which seeks out nonprofits that use technology and innovation to tackle complex global challenges. The philanthropy noted that its funding “along with Google volunteers providing technical support, will help Learning Equality build a bigger content library and scale their reach to hundreds of thousands of new students,” the organization noted in a separate blog post.

Be sure to check back on Marketplace K-12 for updates on mergers, acquisitions, fundraising, and other dealmaking.

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