Combined Company Empowers Colleges and Universities to Solve Two of the Biggest Challenges Faced Today: Attracting and Engaging Prospective Students Efficiently
AUSTIN, Texas & SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–DIGARC, a leading provider of academic catalog and curriculum management, class and student scheduling and student pathfinder software for higher education, has been acquired by Modern Campus, a leading modern learner engagement platform. DIGARC, backed by Serent Capital, will accelerate Modern Campus’ commitment to customer success by revolutionizing learner engagement with a massively personalized digital experience. As part of the transaction, Serent Capital is investing in Modern Campus, joining majority shareholder The Riverside Company.
DIGARC’s Connected Curriculum platform establishes a single source of truth for curriculum data across the campus, with solutions covering catalog management, curriculum design, student registration, section scheduling, and student pathways. Since Serent’s investment in DIGARC in 2016, the company has added more than 250 new school partnerships and expanded its product portfolio from two to five offerings spanning the entire Connected Curriculum spectrum.
The acquisition will integrate Modern Campus’ award-winning web experience platform and personalization engine with DIGARC’s comprehensive course curriculum management software. Together, they will empower higher education institutions to solve two of the biggest challenges they face today: attracting and converting prospective students and creating a highly personalized and engaging pathway to on-time graduation. The combined company will serve more than 1,200 higher education institutions, nearly one in every three higher education institutions in the US.
“This is a perfect next step in DIGARC’s evolution and our ‘Connected Curriculum’ strategy. Since its founding, DIGARC has supported student recruitment and retention by engaging students via a powerful, connected, integrated curriculum,” said Richard Becker, Chief Executive Officer at DIGARC. “Together with Modern Campus, we’ll be able to deepen relationships with our higher education partners and extend our ability to improve user experience, establish a single source of truth across campuses and support student recruitment and retention.”
“The DIGARC team has built an exceptional company delivering significant value to its higher education school customers, and we’re delighted to have been part of their journey so far. We are equally excited to partner with the Modern Campus team over the coming years as they continue to build an industry-leading company and look forward to supporting their growth,” said David Kennedy, Partner at Serent Capital.
“There’s never been a more exciting time in higher education. The modern learner is a savvy consumer and their expectations of higher education institutions have changed. They expect a highly personalized, Netflix-like experience. They’re primarily focused on maximizing the return on one of the most important and largest investments they’ll make – their post-secondary education,” said Brian Kibby, Chief Executive Officer of Modern Campus. “For colleges and universities experiencing decreased enrollment, they need every advantage available to attract, engage, and graduate the modern learner on time. The combination of DIGARC and Modern Campus helps deliver this, combining a highly personalized web experience with world-class catalog navigation.”
Modern Campus represents Serent’s 9th platform investment in the education market.
Macquarie Capital advised Serent Capital on the transaction.
About Serent Capital
Serent Capital invests in growing businesses with compelling solutions that exceed customer needs. As businesses grow and evolve, the opportunities and challenges they face change with them. The principals at Serent Capital have firsthand experience navigating growth through their experiences as CEOs, strategic advisors, and board members to successful businesses. Serent leverages their expertise and capital to help growing businesses thrive. For more information on Serent Capital, visit www.serentcapital.com.
About DIGARC
DIGARC is a leading provider of higher education software technology and services, providing a unified platform that helps educators engage students through the power of Connected Curriculum. Serving nearly 800 institutions of higher education, the DIGARC portfolio is designed to offer curriculum management, student scheduling, administrative schedule planning and student academic pathway exploration, enabling engagement between educators, administrators, and students. DIGARC is based in Central Florida, with offices in Orlando and Lakeland. For more information about DIGARC, visit www.digarc.com.
About Modern Campus
Modern Campus, the innovator driving Omni CMS and Destiny One, empowers higher education institutions to thrive when radical change is required to successfully respond to lower student enrollments and revenue, rising costs, crushing student debt and even school closures.
Powered by the industry’s leading modern learner engagement platform, presidents and provosts can create pathways for lifelong learning, while marketing and IT leaders can deliver Amazon-like personalization and instant fulfillment. Award-winning products and average annual revenue growth of 19% for its 550+ higher education customers have earned Modern Campus a 98% retention rate and a reputation for customer obsession.
Learn how Modern Campus is leading the modern learner engagement movement at moderncampus.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Contacts
Kathleen Rochard
Kathleen.Rochard@SerentCapital.com
(512) 639-7492
