Philadelphia, PA – Renovus Capital Partners (“Renovus”) and Boathouse Capital (“Boathouse”) announced today the acquisition of Atomic Learning, Inc. (“Atomic Learning”) from Granite Equity Partners. Renovus and Boathouse are private equity funds based outside of Philadelphia, PA. Renovus specializes in investing in education companies while Boathouse is knowledgeable about Atomic Learning’s business given its prior experience investing in the early childhood education industry.
Atomic Learning is focused on promoting the practical application of technology in education by empowering educators with the professional development and training resources needed to create college and career-ready students. Its training products provide workshops, classroom-ready projects and tutorials on more than 200 commonly-used software applications and are used by 460,000 teachers and 733,000 college students nationwide. In addition to Atomic Learning’s flagship 21PD and Tech Integration products and online platform, the Company provides training to support the effective use of assistive technology, offers instructor-led blended courses on technology integration and just announced its latest offering – Atomic TechCore – which supports K12 districts in effectively bringing technology and curriculum together to meet the Common Core State Standards. Atomic Learning is based in Little Falls, MN, two hours north of Minneapolis.
“As we look to take the Company to the next level, the management team and I are excited to be partnering with owners that have significant experience in the education industry,” noted Dan Meyer, Atomic Learning’s CEO. “The Renovus team has had a great track record helping small education companies grow by investing in sales force expansion and new products.”
“What really excited us about Atomic Learning was its compelling customer value proposition,” added Bradley Whitman, a Renovus founder. “Schools have spent billions over the last two decades putting technology in the classroom but very little on training teachers on how to use this technology and integrate it into the curriculum. Atomic Learning directly addresses this critical need. ”
“Online training is the wave of the future,” concluded Bill Dyer, a Boathouse founder. “Atomic Learning’s platform offers on-demand training that fits each individual teacher’s specific needs, making it far more cost-effective and efficient than traditional seminar-style training.”
“The value of the Atomic Learning platform is really demonstrated by the loyalty of their customers,” added Jesse Serventi, a Renovus founder. “The platform is sold on an annual subscription basis and renewal rates have remained very high in recent years, despite significant budget challenges for many schools.”
Renovus’ and Boathouse’s investment was provided by their private limited partners and debentures from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Given that Atomic Learning is based in a low income community, the investment qualified for LMI debentures, a special category of debt financing that is available to SBIC funds at annual rate of 1.5%.
DLA Piper, advised Renovus and Boathouse on the transaction while Leonard Street and Deinard advised Atomic Learning. Atomic Learning was represented by Greene Holcomb & Fisher.