K-12 Dealmaking: Galvanize Raises $45 Million; Degreed Raises $25 Million

Contributing Writer

In this week’s dealmaking news, technology training company Galvanize and ed-tech company Degreed raised additional funds while ed-tech startups in India saw new investments.

Galvanize Raises $45 Million: Galvanize, a provider of technology education programs and community workspaces, has raised $45 million in a Series B funding round led by ABS Capital Partners, Galvanize said in a statement. Colorado Impact Fund, Haystack Partners, Greg Maffei, Aspen Grove Capital and existing investor University Ventures also participated in the round.

Denver-based Galvanize noted that the new funds will be used to provide more students access to Galvanize’s modern web development and data science programs and directly address employers’ needs to re-skill existing employees.

Degreed Raises $25 Million: Salt Lake City-based ed-tech company Degreed has raised $25 million in a Series B funding round, according to an announcement from the company. The round was completed with a $3.5 million investment from GSV Acceleration. Previous investments came from Jump Capital, Signal Peak Ventures and Rethink Education.

The additional support from GSV Acceleration will help fuel Degreed’s growth and enhancement of its comprehensive learning and skills verification platform, the company said.

Kendall Hunt Publishing Acquires RCL Benziger: Dubuque, Iowa-based Kendall Hunt, publisher of science, math and gifted materials, acquired Cincinnati-based RCL Benziger, publisher of Catholic educational materials, on Aug. 15, according to a statement. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This acquisition will “allow Kendall Hunt to more effectively and efficiently serve the needs of educators in both the private and public arenas,” Kendall Hut noted in its announcement.

Also, in the Indian ed-tech market:

Gradopedia Raises Funds: Career discovery platform Gradopedia has raised an undisclosed round of seed funding from investors in Dubai, according to The Economic Times.

Company CEO Hitesh Awtaney told the publication that “his firm had raised enough capital to be able to grow to twice its current size,” according to the article. The Mumbai, India-based company was part of the first group of startups backed by ed-tech accelerator Edugild.

Makkajai Raises $200,000: India-based ed-tech startup Makkajai has raised $200,000 in its seed round from angel investors Snapdeal‘s former chief product officer and angel investor, Anand Chandrasekaran, according to The Economic Times. Other angel investors included Mekin Maheshwari, former chief people officer at Flipkart; Ananth Narayanan, the CEO of Myntra and fund-raising platform Lets-Venture.

Makkajai offers math games for kids, including Monster Math 2, which aims to help K-5 students practice common core-aligned math skills.

Genext Students Raises $209,000: Mumbai-based tutoring platform Genext Students has raised $209,000 from crowdfunding platform 1Crowd, according to Inc42.

Genext describes itself as “a one-of-its kind hybrid tutoring platform combining best of technology enabled learning with physical coaching,” according to the company’s website.

Be sure to check back on Marketplace K-12 for updates on mergers, acquisitions, fundraising, and other dealmaking. Also see EdWeek Market Brief, a service that gives companies operating in the market insights on the needs and priorities of school officials.

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