Denver-based Enterprise Technology Start-Up Committed to Supporting K-12 Education
(Denver, Colo.) – March 23, 2015 – The Colorado Impact Fund (CIF), a private equity fund dedicated to supporting Colorado companies that generate consistent investment returns in addition to positive community impact, announced today that it has made a $1.5 MM investment in Schoolrunner, LLC. Founded in 2012 by Charlie Coglianese, Schoolrunner is a Denver-based enterprise technology platform for K-12 schools that gives teachers a single place for all their student data across academics, behavior, attendance and communication—making it easy for teachers and administrators to interpret and analyze. Starting with a single school in New Orleans in 2012, the company has since grown to provide their technology to 72 schools across the country serving over 50,000 students.
The company’s emphasis on improving education through the use of smart and effective technology is consistent with the Colorado Impact Fund’s overarching mission.
“Data is playing an increasingly influential role in strengthening instruction and improving student outcomes,” said Ryan Kirkpatrick, partner at CIF. “Charlie Coglianese and his team have built a user-friendly and integrated platform that allows schools to harness that data to inform decision making. We are extremely proud to partner with a company with such a tremendous opportunity to grow and positively impact our education system.”
Through the use of the Schoolrunner technology, administrators and teachers can effectively track and analyze student data in one easy platform, which improves workflow efficiency and provides the ability to quickly identify when students are falling behind. This data lays the groundwork for targeted interventions and an enhanced knowledge base that helps all key constituencies – students, parents, teachers and administrators – focus their efforts on bolstering academic and behavioral outcomes. Schoolrunner has proved successful in numerous schools throughout the country and the opportunity for more widespread adoption is significant.
“Our vision is to give educators professional tools to spare them precious minutes and let them bring a timely, data-informed awareness to their job of educating and inspiring,” said Schoolrunner founder Charlie Coglianese. “This investment from CIF will make it possible for Schoolrunner to bring our technology to more schools more quickly.”
About Colorado Impact Fund
The Colorado Impact Fund is a private equity fund, managed by an affiliate of Vestar Capital Partners, which is dedicated to supporting local Colorado companies that generate consistent investment returns in addition to positive community outcomes. Investors in the Fund include some of Colorado’s most respected executives, families, foundations and corporations, each of whom is committed to making a difference in the State of Colorado and beyond. Targeting investments up to $6 million in the areas of community health, natural resource conservation, education and workforce development and economic development, the Colorado Impact Fund leverages its collective experiences, resources and networks to help Colorado entrepreneurs create exceptional and lasting companies.
For more information visit www.coloradoimpactfund.com.
About Schoolrunner
Founded in 2012, Schoolrunner is a comprehensive student data system that gives teachers and schools one place to track everything they care about. Built through a partnership with real-world users, Schoolrunner continues to incorporate educator feedback through user conferences, surveys, and frequent communication. Spreading by word of mouth, Schoolrunner now works with high-performing schools in San Francisco, Boston, Houston, Chicago, Newark, New Orleans, Memphis, and Bridgeport. Schoolrunner is a proud signatory of the Future of Privacy Forum’s Student Privacy Pledge and founder Charlie Coglianese was recently named a finalist for ColoradoBiz Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year award.
For more information visit home.schoolrunner.org.
Contact: Courtney Lis (970) 581.6231 Courtney@vocapr.com Alana Watkins (303) 916.2752 Alana@vocapr.com