Marketplace K-12

K-12 Dealmaking: Parallel Raises $6.1M; Kuwait-Based Baims Acquires Egyptian Tutoring Company

Michelle Caffrey
Staff Writer
K-12 dealmaking

Parallel, a teletherapy platform for K-12 students with learning differences, raised $6.1 million in a new funding round led by Rethink Impact, the company announced.

The round, an add-on to its $20 million Series A announced in May 2022, was also backed by insiders at the organization.

New York-based Parallel said the influx of capital is aimed at helping the organization expand into new territories and invest in product development. The company has raised $28.9 million since it was founded in 2021.

Parallel offers school districts a platform to connect students with special education services, including school psychologists, speech-language pathologists, and special education teachers.

“Parallel’s innovative tech comes at a time when 42 of 50 states face SPED teacher shortages,” Jenny Abramson, founder and managing partner of Rethink Impact, said in a statement.

In addition to the new funding, Parallel also announced a slew of additions to its executive team, including top roles in strategic growth, and operations.

Cem Varon, a former CTO of GoHealth, was named chief strategic growth officer.

Sarah Finney joined the company as vice president of customer success after holding a similar role at Presence Learning.

Monica Maspons, formerly senior vice president of strategic growth at Acorn Health, was named vice president of strategic operations.

Kushal Patel was appointed vice president of finance, and formerly served as senior director of strategic finance at Learneo.

Meryl Dindin, a former co-founder and chief technology officer at Polygon, was named director of data analytics and AI.

Parallel is “tackling the most pressing challenges facing today’s public school system by increasing access to quality, effective, and affordable care,” Parallel CEO Diana Heldfond said in a statement, adding that the company’s data show students who use the platform “have reported significant progress that includes grade improvement, positive changes in behavior, increased excitement to learn, and more.”

Kuwait-based ed-tech company acquires Egyptian tutoring company. Baims, an ed-tech company based in Kuwait City, Kuwait, announced it acquired Orcas, a tutoring company based in Cairo, Egypt.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Baims, founded by Yousef AlHusaini and Bader Al-Rasheed, is focused on the secondary and postsecondary market and offers online courses for students in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, and Turkey.

Orcas, founded by Hossam Taher and Amira El Gharib in 2019, offers private tutoring to K-12 students in international schools in Egypt.

With the deal, Baims said it plans to introduce Orcas’ personalized tutoring into Baims’ existing products and markets.

The acquisition will allow Orcas to expand into the higher-education sector and “establish product and market synergies by introducing personalized K-12 tutoring services in the [Gulf Cooperation Council countries],” Taher, the Orcas CEO, said in a statement.

Countries included in the Gulf Cooperation Council are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Baims’ AlRasheed said the deal reflects the untapped potential it sees in the education market in the Middle East and North Africa, and the need there for new solutions to prepare students for success in their careers.

“Education is not just about acquiring knowledge; it’s about empowering individuals to thrive in the workforce,” Al-Rasheed said in a statement. “Insufficient access to quality education limits opportunities in the job market, and our consolidated platform aims to bridge this gap by fostering skill development and preparing students for success.”

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