Edison Ventures Invests in Knowledge Delivery Systems
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ (PRWEB) March 07, 2014 -- Edison Ventures announces a $6 million investment in New York City-based Knowledge Delivery Systems (KDS). Edison led the financing alongside existing investors. The proceeds will be used to accelerate sales & marketing, expand the management team, increase product development and build out the company’s digital content offering.
KDS is a leading provider of professional development solutions for teachers in the K-12 market. The company's on-line platform, coupled with best-in-class content, coaching and services, dramatically improves teacher know-how, effectiveness in the classroom and student results. Clients include some of the largest school districts in the United States such as Chicago IL, Philadelphia PA, Indianapolis IN, Austin TX and State of New Mexico.
Sever Totia, Edison Principal led the investment and noted, “We are excited to partner with a management team that has tremendous expertise in the K-12 education industry, to build the market leader in professional development for teachers. KDS’ proven solutions address a rapidly growing need in the K-12 market. The company has already established a clear leadership position in the space.” David Nevas, Principal who led Edison diligence added, “KDS’s platform is achieving impressive market acceptance and growth. Customers praised the quality, breadth, ease of use, and results.” Sever Totia will join KDS’ Board of Directors, along with Brian Madocks, Edison Director Network member.
“The financing comes at an inflection point in KDS’ trajectory and we are excited to enter this partnership. Edison’s knowledge from investing in the education market, coupled with operating experience, particularly in sales, marketing and channel development, are critical to accelerate our growth,” stated Alvin Crawford, CEO of KDS. “With the challenges and initiatives faced by the K-12 market, effective professional development for teachers is a critical success factor and KDS’ platform addresses an essential client needs that remains underserved.”
Edison Ventures is actively investing from its seventh fund. KDS marks Edison’s 21st investment in New York and is part of Edison’s Enterprise 2.0 portfolio. The Enterprise 2.0 industry segment includes investments in cloud, SaaS applications, infrastructure software, mobile and education technologies.
Edison has invested in 13 Education Technology companies. Successful exits include Assessment Systems, MathSoft, Nobel Learning, Presidium, Skills Bank and TetraData. Current portfolio companies include Clearpoint, eChalk, Ontuitive and Regent. Other Enterprise 2.0 portfolio companies include: Uptivity, Tangoe, NSI, Motionsoft, Archive, PlumChoice, Fishbowl and SalsaLabs. Successful exits include: M5, Axent, Visual Networks, Vocus, Best Software, VirtualEdge, and POMS.
About Edison Ventures
Established in 1986 Edison partners with entrepreneurs, service providers and other financing sources to build successful companies. Edison provides capital and strategic value-add to later stage ($5 to 20 million revenue), information technology businesses. Initial investments range from $5 to 10 million. Edison typically serves as sole or lead investor. In addition to providing expansion capital, Edison funds management buyouts, recapitalizations, spinouts and secondary stock purchases.
Edison’s investment professionals are based in Lawrenceville, NJ, New York, NY, McLean, VA, Needham, MA, and Cleveland, OH. Industry specialties include Financial Technology, Healthcare IT, Interactive Marketing and eCommerce and Enterprise 2.0. Edison’s successes include Best Software, Cambridgesoft, Dendrite, Gain Capital, Liberty Tax, M5, Magnetic, Marcam, Mathsoft, MediaBrix, Neat, NetProspex, Octagon, PlumChoice, Tangoe, Virtual Edge, Visual Networks, Vocus and many other information technology leaders, which have a combined market value exceeding $5 billion. Edison Ventures currently manages over $700 million and actively making new investments. For more information on Edison Ventures, please visit Edison Ventures and follow us on Twitter @edisonventure.
About Knowledge Delivery System (KDS)
Knowledge Delivery Systems (KDS) is a leading provider of online strategic professional development, state certification, master's degree programs, and career advancement for teachers and administrators at every stage of their career. Hundreds of thousands of educators have taken online courses powered by KDS, classes that are research-based, practical, topical and aligned with requirements in all fifty states. KDS provides online access, 24/7 at your convenience, to courses taught by the nation's leading experts. Our courses are built by leaders in education whose insight and methodologies have had significant impact on teacher effectiveness and student performance. For more information visit http://www.kdsi.org.
Tricia Bradley, Edison Ventures, http://www.edisonventures.com, +1 (609) 873-9224, [email protected]
Share this article