BELLEVUE, Washington - January 31, 2008 – GlobalScholar.com, a provider of innovative
technology in the education market, today announced that it has secured $27 million
in round B funding and is acquiring Excelsior Software, a leading provider of assessment
management solutions for K-12 education. The funding includes additional investments
from Knowledge Universe Education, a leading global education company; Ignition
Partners, a premier venture capital firm; and an added investment from Peter Neupert,
an existing board member. The new funding and acquisition of Excelsior Software,
which has long-standing relationships in the education community, will enable GlobalScholar.com
to greatly expand its reach in the education market and accelerate its U.S. and
international growth.
"We are passionate about using technology to enhance the education experience
for students and teachers everywhere," said Kal Raman, CEO of GlobalScholar.com.
"The additional funding, the wealth of education experience the Excelsior Software
team brings and the integration of our products, will allow us to provide the tools
students, parents and educators need to confidently improve student outcomes."
GlobalScholar.com currently offers three education-related services. The first,
the GlobalScholar platform, enables educators to more efficiently and effectively
create, manage and align content, assessments, curriculum, standards and supplemental
learning to drive educational performance. The second is a unique online tutoring
website, where parents and students can safely connect with trusted educators who
provide one-to-one tutoring, instant homework help and self-paced learning. The
third is a set of search websites, CollegeFinder (http://www.globalscholar.com/collegefinder)
and SchoolFinder (http://www.globalscholar.com/schoolfinder) which are being developed to
help students and parents learn about, compare and make informed decisions about
schools to attend.
GlobalScholar.com made the strategic decision to acquire Excelsior Software to expand
the solutions it offers school districts and in order to offer Excelsior’s many
loyal customers an even broader collection of educational services. Excelsior Software,
which has built many deep relationships during its 21-year tenure in the education
industry, counts nearly 1,000 school districts as customers, including some of the
largest in the U.S., such as Miami-Dade County Public Schools, FL (3rd), Broward
County Public Schools, FL (6th), and Montgomery County Public Schools, MD (14th).
As an innovative leader in education technology and a veteran in the education industry,
Excelsior’s assessment management solutions and its products are a key part of the
GlobalScholar.com product vision for the future.
"We continue to be impressed with the intense commitment and energy that GlobalScholar.com
has for enhancing the education experience for students and devoted educators,"
said Brad Silverberg, founding partner of Ignition Partners. "Improving the
education system is a worthy challenge with significant implications for both the
U.S. and global economies. GlobalScholar.com is unique in that it has a comprehensive,
cost-effective approach that allows the resources of education – parents, educators
and administrators – to work together in addressing these issues."
"For more than 20 years, we've been dedicated to education innovation, and
along the way have helped millions of students, parents, teachers and administrators
collect, analyze and act on the information they need to improve student performance,"
said William Zaggle, president and CEO of Excelsior Software. "Our integration
with GlobalScholar.com will take our effort to a whole new level. Now, as part of
the GlobalScholar.com team, and a member of the Knowledge Universe family, we have
access to the resources that will allow us to have an even greater impact on raising
student achievement."
About Excelsior Software
Excelsior Software, with company headquarters in Greeley, Colo., is committed to
raising student achievement by providing immediate access to performance information,
increasing teacher productivity, and improving communication. As the pioneer of
the electronic gradebook concept in 1986, Excelsior's experience in assessment management
supports educators by delivering the technical innovations that meet the needs of
today’s evolving data-driven educational system. The company's Pinnacle Plus software
solution automatically tracks and reports student progress and attendance data to
educators and parents at the individual, group, class, school, and district levels.
Currently, Excelsior works with educators in nearly 1,000 districts nationwide,
and its Pinnacle Plus solution is the sole student assessment software product recommended
by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). For more information,
please visit Excelsior Software
Inc. or phone 800-473-4572.
About GlobalScholar.com
Headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., GlobalScholar.com is committed to providing students
of all ages the confidence and control they need to make informed decisions about
their education. The company develops products that effectively integrate and align
the resources of education – people, technology and content – to improve efficiency
and performance. These products include CollegeFinder, SchoolFinder, and GlobalScholar.com
where students can select and interact with highly qualified online tutors or take
self-paced courses. GlobalScholar.com is backed by Ignition Partners and Knowledge
Universe Education. For more information, please visit
www.globalscholar.com or phone 877-824-4040.
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For more information, media only:
Jody Peake, OnPR, w: 503-802-4410; m: 503-997-3907; e: jodyp@onpr.com
Gaby Adam, OnPR, w: 425-454-6843, m: 206-931-5942, e: gabya@onpr.com
Eileen Demers, Excelsior Software, w: 970-353-8311 m: 970-397-7503, e: edemers@excelsiorsoftware.com