$10k USD $22m CAD $200m TIGER first bergenbloom Tiger Global Management’s $200 million investment in GoGuardian, a company that distributes software to K-12 schools, is another sign of private equity’s bet that the surge in classroom technology will outlast the epidemic.
10k US 22m 200m Tiger Global
Sumeru Equity Partners LP-backed GoGuardian has seen its worth increase to over $1 billion as a result of the investment. In 2014, the Los Angeles-based startup released a Chrome extension that helped educators track and limit pupils’ online time.
Similar to other online education services, GoGuardian saw an increase in demand during the outbreak as schools attempted to integrate virtual learning.
The company reports an almost 150% increase in sales from previous summer. CEO Advait Shinde said “cash flow positive since day one,” but he would not comment on sales or profitability as a whole.
According to the company, their software is used by 22 million kids in grades k-12 across 10,000 schools in the United States. Of the 25 largest districts in the United States, 23 are now customers, up from 11 before the pandemic.
This year, GoGuardian inked statewide agreements with West Virginia and Delaware, and the company hopes to sign additional agreements next year.
The state of Delaware serves as the official place of incorporation for Tiger Global Management Llc. Their accounting year concludes on December 31st.
A second indication of private equity’s confidence that the rise in classroom technology will outlast the pandemic is Tiger Global Management’s $200 million investment in GoGuardian, a software business that sells to K-12 schools.
Sumeru Equity Partners LP, an investor, now values GoGuardian at over $1 billion thanks to this round of funding. The Los Angeles-based firm launched in 2014 with a Chrome extension designed to let institutions monitor and control students’ online activity.
While many institutions were struggling to make virtual classrooms work during the pandemic, interest in GoGuardian and similar online education startups skyrocketed.
What is Tiger Global Exactly?
Tiger Global, an investment business, has seen a meteoric rise in its assets under management in recent years. A recent investor letter, initially viewed by Axios and later obtained by TechCrunch, reveals that the company is currently taking stock and streamlining its operations.
Most notably, the firm has just informed its limited partners that it plans to raise $6 billion for its newest fund, and that it expects to hold a “first close” for the fund at the latest by mid-January. This may be due to a lack of alternatives or, more likely, a reaction to the shifting market landscape. (As a bonus, the letter mentions that the management fee for the first closing will be reduced to 1.75%.)
Tiger Global raised $12.7 billion from investors in March of this year, and while that’s a lot of money, the $6 billion it has now is less than half of what it had last fall when it first started investing. (According to an insider, the company is still making investments using that vehicle.)
A smaller portion of Tiger Global’s workers’ salaries will be contributed to the new fund. Employees have pledged a minimum of $500 million, or little under 9% of the whole amount, to the $6 billion endeavour, whereas they put in a total of $1.5 billion, or 12% of Tiger’s $12.7 billion fund. Assuming this trend continues, this might go up.
In contrast, Tiger Global claims that the size of their bench is not decreasing. A software investor who joined Tiger Global in 2017, John Curtius, left the company on Monday, although a source familiar with the matter claims that Tiger Global actually has a somewhat larger team now than it did at the beginning of the year.
An investor letter from Tiger Global was also released on Monday, in which the company announced the hiring of five new investors. These new hires include two individuals from Blackstone, two recent Harvard graduates, and a fifth investor, Evan Stanleigh, who previously spent seven years as a partner at the New York hedge fund Cadian Capital.
Either way, Curtius’s exit from the building evidently didn’t sit well with the low-flying Tiger Global. His departure from the 160-person organisation was revealed to The Information today, contradicting previous reports that suggested he would remain with the company until June. Curtius told the media source, “Tiger is going to do wonderfully well, and I’m quite thrilled for my next initiative.”
Although it is called Tiger Global Private Investment Partners XVI, Tiger’s newest fund is actually the firm’s fifteenth. (The group was superstitious and skipped over fund number 13 in favour of a lucky fourteenth.)
Last Words
Securly, a competitor of GoGuardian’s, was acquired by Golden Gate Capital in March. The shares of PowerSchool Holdings Inc, another major participant in the ed-tech industry, have increased by 14% since the company’s initial public offering (IPO). A $4 billion valuation has been reached.
Over the past year, the firm has seen a 60% increase in its employees. It has also finished buying out two related ed-tech startups.
It has strengthened its board of directors with the inclusion of Julie Larson-Green, a seasoned veteran from Microsoft Corp. Shinde has also said there are no plans for a public offering of the company at this time.
