Transaction Caps Record Year of Growth, Advancing Mathematics & Reading for Six Million Students
BELLEVUE, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–DreamBox Learning, the leading education technology provider that pioneered intelligent adaptive learning, and Evergreen Coast Capital Corp. (“Evergreen”), investors in software and technology businesses seeking growth and scale, have signed a definitive agreement for Evergreen to acquire a majority stake in DreamBox. TPG’s The Rise Fund will retain a significant minority stake and continue to be represented on the company’s Board of Directors. The deal follows a record year for DreamBox, on target for over $100 million in revenue and nearly 40% growth as K-12 schools accelerate adoption of proven-effective blended learning solutions. DreamBox also expanded its leadership team this year and acquired two companies in the English Language Arts (ELA) market to offer a dual-discipline solution, which now supports approximately 6 million students and 400,000 educators.
“We identified DreamBox as a leading innovator pushing the industry forward with highly efficacious solutions. Jessie Woolley-Wilson’s impressive, values-driven leadership has resulted in a differentiated product offering. We look forward to partnering with the teams at DreamBox and The Rise Fund to make a significant impact in education”
“We are in an historic moment in the EdTech industry, and all of us at DreamBox have been inspired to see teachers embrace blended learning solutions that are proven to advance the mathematics and reading skills of students both in the classroom and at home. Evergreen not only recognizes what DreamBox has achieved, but also what more our team can do for education with the right complement of engaging and personalized learning technology combined with powerful predictive and real-time analytics that empower learning guardians,” said Jessie Woolley-Wilson, President and CEO of DreamBox Learning. “Our mission is to radically transform the way the world learns, and this partnership will propel DreamBox into the next phase of growth as we expand the reach of our best-of-breed, dual-discipline solution. This milestone is a testament to our belief that we can ‘do well to do good’ as we deliver highly engaging and adaptive mathematics and reading solutions that unlock learning potential for all students.”
“DreamBox is a compelling extension of Evergreen’s continued investment effort in the EdTech market. We look forward to partnering with Jessie Woolley-Wilson, the entire DreamBox team, and The Rise Fund in this new chapter for the Company, bringing together our expertise in data and SaaS technologies, and sustainable growth at scale,” said Christian Heim, Managing Director at Evergreen Coast Capital Corp.
“We identified DreamBox as a leading innovator pushing the industry forward with highly efficacious solutions. Jessie Woolley-Wilson’s impressive, values-driven leadership has resulted in a differentiated product offering. We look forward to partnering with the teams at DreamBox and The Rise Fund to make a significant impact in education,” said Isaac Kim, Managing Director at Evergreen Coast Capital Corp.
“DreamBox demonstrates the power of those business models in which social impact and financial performance are colinear. Jessie Woolley-Wilson and her team have built a high performing business that delivers social impact at scale,” said Steve Ellis, Co-Managing Partner of The Rise Funds. “DreamBox is a terrific case study for The Rise Fund’s work in the education sector,” added John Rogers, Partner and Education Sector Lead for The Rise Funds. “We are proud to have worked with Jessie and her team to build the country’s only ESSA-strong solution for both math and reading, coupled with leading-edge assessment without testing. We are delighted to welcome Evergreen and continue our partnership with DreamBox.”
The investment comes on the heels of The Rise Fund’s recent acquisition of Teachers of Tomorrow which adds to an education portfolio that includes EverFi, InStride, and Renaissance Learning.
Former Secretary of Education and DreamBox board member Arne Duncan added, “It has been an incredible journey over the past few years and the company is emerging even stronger after the pandemic shutdowns. DreamBox is doing the right thing for teachers and students, bringing high efficacy in critical disciplines into the classroom at low-cost and unlocking learning gains for students regardless of race, gender, or zip code.”
DreamBox offers schools the only dual-discipline software solution rated “Strong” by Johns Hopkins’ EvidenceforESSA.org in both mathematics and reading. DreamBox is uniquely designed to personalize learning for all learners, providing highly nuanced adaptation that delivers the right lesson at the right time in either English or Spanish and ensuring students’ reading lessons and texts are relevant and valuable at their individual reading level. While personalizing learning pathways for students, DreamBox’s math and reading solutions deliver actionable data insights and resources that complement and guide teachers’ classroom decisions and differentiation.
Macquarie Capital and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher advised the DreamBox board of directors and Jamieson Corporate Finance and Williams & Connolly advised management on the transaction. SVB Technology Investment Banking is acting as financial advisor to Evergreen Coast Capital Corp.
To learn more about DreamBox, visit https://www.dreambox.com/.
About DreamBox Learning
DreamBox Learning®, the leading K-12 education technology provider, is radically transforming the way the world learns. As the only dual-discipline solution rated “Strong” by Johns Hopkins’ EvidenceforESSA.org in both mathematics and reading, DreamBox uniquely provides schools high-quality adaptive learning solutions independently proven to accelerate student growth. Built by teachers and for teachers, DreamBox empowers educators with robust data analytics and content-specific professional development solutions to complement instruction. DreamBox supports 400,000 educators and approximately 6 million students in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Mexico. For more information, visit www.dreambox.com.
About Evergreen
Elliott Investment Management L.P. manages more than $48 billion of assets. Its flagship fund, Elliott Associates, L.P., was founded in 1977, making it one of the oldest funds under continuous management. The Elliott funds’ investors include pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, funds-of-funds, high net worth individuals and families, and employees of the firm. This investment is being led out of Evergreen Coast Capital Corp., Elliott’s Menlo Park affiliate, which focuses on technology investing. Evergreen has a strong history of impact investing in education. DreamBox marks the second investment in education that Evergreen has completed in 2021.
About The Rise Funds
The Rise Funds are a core pillar of TPG Rise, TPG’s global impact investing platform. Founded in 2016 by TPG in partnership with Bono and Jeff Skoll, The Rise Funds invest behind impact entrepreneurs and growth-stage, high potential, mission-driven companies that are focused on achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The Rise Funds deliver capabilities and expertise across a wide variety of sectors and countries at scale, focusing on opportunities in climate and conservation, education, food and agriculture, financial technology, healthcare, and technology.
With more than $12 billion in assets across The Rise Funds, TPG Rise Climate, and Evercare Health Fund, the TPG Rise platform is the world’s largest private markets impact investing platform committed to achieving measurable, positive social and environmental outcomes alongside competitive financial returns.
For more information, visit www.therisefund.com or @therisefund on Instagram.
Contacts
RH Strategic for DreamBox Learning
DreamBoxPR@rhstrategic.com
Elliott Investment Management L.P.
Casey Friedman
cFriedman@elliottmgmt.com
212-278-1780
TPG/The Rise Funds
Ari Cohen
media@tpg.com
415-743-1550
