BV Investment Partners Announces Strategic Investment in SchoolMint as Second Investment in its EdTech Platform
BOSTON, October 30, 2017 – BV Investment Partners (“BV”), a middle-market private equity firm focused on the business services and IT services sectors, today announced the acquisition of SchoolMint, the second investment in its EdTech platform. SchoolMint is a leading provider of cloud-based student enrollment and school choice systems for PreK-12 district, charter, and independent schools. This investment is highly complementary to BV’s June 2017 investment in Hero K12.
Justin Harrison, Managing Director of BV, said, “This investment reinforces our commitment to bring a compelling combination of technological capabilities to the EdTech market. Between SchoolMint and Hero K12, we now have two highly strategic companies in our EdTech platform that will further solidify a leading position in the sector by focusing on school operational efficiencies and broadening the technology platform to serve as a one-stop shop of solutions for schools around the country. Going forward, we will continue to seek additional investment opportunities to further expand our capabilities and reach within the EdTech market.”
SchoolMint focuses on an enrollment solution that starts with family outreach and goes far beyond registration, spanning the student’s lifetime with their school system. “We see an opportunity to build relationships with families and students that extend beyond the initial enrollment process,” said Jinal Jhaveri, Co-founder and CEO of SchoolMint. “Joining BV’s EdTech platform enables us to continue our mission, gaining resources to help us scale and reach more families, in more communities, nationwide.”
“Our mission in creating the EdTech platform was to improve the entire student journey, giving educators and administrators tools to create safer, more connected schools,” said Oliver Wreford, Chief Product & Strategy Officer for the EdTech platform. “SchoolMint stands alone in the market, easing the burden parents and educators face in the school enrollment process, making the experience equitable for all families. SchoolMint’s passion, culture, and unrivaled products have driven its explosive growth and will contribute significantly to the foundation of our platform.”
Both of the Companies in BV’s EdTech platform, starting with Hero K12 and now with SchoolMint, have a shared objective to better help schools connect with families and students. Hero K12’s applications support those same families with a focus on positive behavior recognition, and early intervention for students. “We are excited to collaborate with Jinal and his team given SchoolMint’s unique positioning at the start of the student’s journey,” said Mark MacDonald, CEO of Hero K12. “Supporting the student’s journey with Hero K12’s impact on a more positive school culture will be a great benefit to our shared customers.”
SchoolMint serves several of the nation’s largest school districts including Chicago Public Schools, Oakland Unified School District, and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. The combination of SchoolMint and Hero K12, represents over 8,000 schools, and more than two million students. The market growth opportunities available to the combined companies now extend from enrollment to graduation in districts that include traditional public, charter, and independent schools across the country. Customers who work with SchoolMint and Hero K12 will benefit from the integrated platform and a broader strategy to share data across their applications.
SchoolMint is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Hero K12 is headquartered in Miami Lakes, FL. Both brands will maintain their strong presence in the marketplace with a combined growth strategy driving the collective platform forward.
About SchoolMint
SchoolMint provides a cloud-based student enrollment and school choice platform to PreK-12 school systems worldwide. Since its founding in 2013, close to 6,000 schools have chosen SchoolMint to streamline all aspects of student enrollment – student registration management, application, lottery, and school choice management, and digital forms and document uploads. Available online and on mobile devices, SchoolMint integrates with leading student information systems (SIS) and transforms the end-to-end enrollment experience for school staff and parents. Visit SchoolMint.com to learn more.
About Hero K12
With Hero K12, schools create a positive school climate and culture. Hero is a school-wide system to capture and collect data that allows schools to replace traditional discipline policies with initiatives that emphasize and recognize positive behaviors. Meet school heroes and see their turnaround stories at herok12.com and @heromatters.
About BV Investment Partners
BV Investment Partners is currently investing its ninth private equity fund. The firm is one of the oldest and most experienced sector-focused private equity firms in North America. Since its founding in 1983, the firm has invested $3.0 billion in 90 companies, actively targeting investments in the business services and information technology services industries. For more information, please visit www.bvlp.com.
