The owners of Digarc, the leading provider of e-catalog and curriculum management solutions to higher education institutions in the U.S., have announced a growth investment by Serent Capital, a private equity firm based in San Francisco. The Serent team will work with existing management to scale operations, and to expand and drive future growth opportunities for the company.
The investment was announced by Digarc owners Ken Blais, who serves as president and CTO, and Chet Jordan, CEO. Blais founded the company as Digital Architecture, Inc., in Maine in 2001.
“We are thrilled about the potential ahead of Digarc through a partnership with Serent Capital,” said Blais. “Serent’s experience in the education sector and their business-building resources will enable us to continue to accelerate our growth, further invest in our products, and deliver even greater value to our clients in the coming years.”
Jordan noted that Serent “is an extremely successful firm with professionals that have great depth of experience working with software and education companies. Their operating partnership approach stood out in a crowded field of potential investors; their resources and support will be invaluable as we continue to grow.”
Blais and Jordan will relinquish day-to-day operation of Digarc, and have announced that Angela Selden will join as the new CEO.
“We are extremely pleased to have attracted a CEO of Angela’s caliber to Digarc. We could not be more excited about the value she will bring to our employees and customers in the years to come” said Jordan. She has served as Chairman and CEO of several services and technology companies and on multiple Boards of Directors. She also serves on the Strategic Board of Governors for the Opus College of Business and Schulze School of Entrepreneurship for her alma mater, the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The current management team at Digarc will remain in place as the company continues its impressive growth trajectory, tripling in size in the past five years—now serving more than 450 academic institutions. Blais and Jordan will remain with the company as investors and board members.
Founded in 2008, Serent Capital (www.serentcapital.com) is a leading private equity firm, focused on investing in high-growth service and technology businesses. Digarc is the third education company in which Serent has made a major investment. It has also invested in C2 Education and Diamond Mind.
“We have been highly impressed by the business that the Digarc team has built,” said David Kennedy, Founding Partner at Serent Capital. “Digarc’s marquee client base, exceptional customer loyalty, and market share leadership are testaments to the value that Acalog and Curriculog offer to higher education institutions. We are excited to work closely with the Digarc team to build upon the company’s already strong momentum.”
Digarc created Acalog, the industry’s first e-catalog system, in 2001. Acalog’s records-based approach saves production time, increases accuracy, and ensures content is consistent, regardless of the medium in which it is presented. It includes student-friendly features such as the My Portfolio tool for capturing course preferences, a printable Degree Planner, and social media integration with Facebook and Twitter.
In 2012, Digarc introduced the Curriculog curriculum management system for the higher ed market. Curriculog is a centralized workflow platform that allows faculty and administrators to collaborate on the curriculum design, change, and approval process. Digarc is highly regarded for its attention to customer experience, and sets the standard with 24/7/365 support for its products.
Bigelow LLC, which brokered the Serent investment, was founded in 1935. It specializes in high-quality, entrepreneur manager-owned businesses, which it seeks to partner with like-minded investors.
