EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
Spear Education | December 20, 2022
Avista Capital Partners ("Avista"), a leading private equity firm focused exclusively on healthcare, today announced its acquisition of Spear Education ("Spear" or the "Company"), a tech-enabled provider of digital and in-person clinical training, practice analytics and consulting solutions for the dental market. Transaction terms were not disclosed. Headquartered in Scottsdale, AZ, Spear is the industry's leading dental education provider. Spear offers unmatched breadth of content including 5,000+ on-demand videos, 300+ hands on workshops annually, and 100+ study club modules. Spear's solutions enable dentists to learn higher acuity skills and generate new revenue streams, providing a high ROI to dental practices and practitioners across the spectrum of experience. Avista Partner Sriram Venkatraman, said: "Avista sees Spear as a compelling investment opportunity given its industry leadership, demonstrated growth potential and diversified business model. We look forward to leveraging our deep experience in the healthcare technology sector and dental end-market to help accelerate Spear's growth trajectory.
"Spear has achieved robust growth over the last several years, with increases in membership and the expansion of our digital content. We are well positioned to capitalize on the tremendous opportunities ahead, against the backdrop of an accelerating industry. We are thrilled to have Avista as a partner as we pursue a multi-lever expansion strategy that will result in compelling benefits for our customers, employees and the entire dental industry."
CEO of Spear Education Kaleim Manji,
Steve Schiess, an Avista Strategic Executive with over 30 years of experience in the dental industry, most recently as the CEO of Zest Dental Solutions, a former Avista portfolio company, added, "Spear offers dentists a tremendous value proposition. Spear's education and training courses enable dentists to learn new skills that drive the retention of procedures in-house which, in turn, delivers a high return on their Spear investment. We believe there are multiple opportunities to accelerate both the dental practices' and Spear's growth. Wilkie Farr & Gallagher LLP acted as legal advisor and William Blair acted as financial advisor to Avista.
About Spear Education
Spear Education is dentistry's premier source for continuing education. The company serves dentists of all clinical skill levels and transforms practices and the lives of patients by offering physical hands-on courses, extensive peer-to-peer regional learning, and comprehensive online educational tools. For more information, go to www.speareducation.com.
About Avista Capital Partners
Founded in 2005, Avista Capital is a leading New York-based private equity firm with over $8 billion invested in more than 40 growth-oriented healthcare businesses globally. Avista partners with businesses that feature strong management teams, stable cash flows and robust growth prospects – investing in the medical devices, pharmaceuticals, outsourced pharmaceutical services, healthcare technology, healthcare distribution and diagnostics, and consumer healthcare sectors. Avista's Strategic Executives and Advisors are an integral part of the team, providing strategic insight, operational oversight and senior counsel, which helps drive growth and performance, while fostering sustainable businesses and creating long-term value for all stakeholders.
Read More
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Milton Hershey School | November 14, 2022
Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning (CHS) announced yesterday at an event at Eden Resort & Suites in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that it will open three Early Childhood Education Centers (ECECs) in Lancaster County to serve children from birth to age 5 from economically disadvantaged and at-risk backgrounds. The cost-free Centers will be located in Lancaster City, New Danville, and Elizabethtown. At yesterday's event, Lancaster County community leaders and child advocates heard from CHS and Milton Hershey School (MHS) leadership about their approach to providing accessible early childhood education. CHS intends to support and work collaboratively with existing Lancaster County organizations to serve local children and families. City of Lancaster Mayor Danene Sorace also spoke, explaining how the addition of the CHS Centers will positively impact the broader Lancaster County community. The three CHS Centers in Lancaster County are part of a $350 million initiative to initially develop six ECECs in the state as subsidiaries of MHS. Each will offer a non-residential, year-round core early learning program with a curriculum designed to enhance children's educational, social, and emotional development. It also will provide children with nutritious meals, transportation, and other needed supplies, along with integrated support services to families of enrolled children. All of this will be provided with all costs covered to qualifying families. Yesterday's announcement was suitably made during Founders Week at MHS, which celebrates the anniversary of Milton and Catherine Hershey establishing the school 113 years ago. The Hersheys' legacy is deeply rooted in Lancaster County, making this expansion especially meaningful. Milton Hershey spent his childhood in Bart Township and, as an adult, opened the Lancaster Caramel Company. Lancaster County is also where Milton and Catherine Hershey spent the early years of their marriage and invested in the Lancaster community through their support of St. Joseph's Hospital, Franklin & Marshall College, and Catherine's service as an inaugural member of the Lancaster Charity Society.
The Lancaster County CHS Centers are expected to begin opening in 2026.
ABOUT CATHERINE HERSHEY SCHOOLS FOR EARLY LEARNING
Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning will provide a cost-free educational, social, and cognitive program to children from birth to age 5 from economically disadvantaged and at-risk backgrounds through the development of initially six Early Childhood Education Centers. The Centers are subsidiaries of Milton Hershey School and will be staffed and operated independently of the Milton Hershey School core model. For more information, visit chslearn.org.
ABOUT MILTON HERSHEY SCHOOL
Milton Hershey School is one of the world's best private schools, where qualifying students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade live on campus and receive an exceptional educational experience—with all costs covered.
Read More
EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
DeepHow | January 04, 2023
UL Solutions recently announced selecting DeepHow's AI-powered video-based training platform to enhance and add a robust capability to the renowned compliance training learning management system (LMS), ComplianceWire, for life sciences companies.
All organizations in the life sciences need to provide their employees and contractors with mechanisms for continual skill development and competency management. UL Solutions' ComplianceWire is a platform that manages, tracks, and delivers qualifications and task-based technical capabilities in an environment driven by compliance. UL Solutions provides a comprehensive library of over 400 life sciences-specific courses, 110 of which were developed in collaboration with the FDA.
With the integration of DeepHow's video-based skills collection and delivery capabilities into ComplianceWire, UL Solutions' life sciences customers can now optimize their training delivery with captivating videos. DeepHow empowers training content managers to collect instructional content using a smartphone and turn it into engaging and impactful videos that enhance training delivery.
DeepHow integrates the most recent developments in artificial intelligence, computer vision, natural language processing, and knowledge mapping to transform the way in which knowledge is digitized, captured, and structured. The company has developed and distributes an AI-powered workforce readiness platform for workplaces where capabilities are required to conduct standard operational procedures. The company makes it easier to gather and share technical skills and knowledge, which cuts project time by a factor of ten, improves employee performance by 25%, and cuts overall training and development costs by a large amount.
About UL Solutions
UL Solutions, a world leader in applied safety science, converts sustainability, safety, and security concerns into opportunities for customers in over 100 countries. UL Solutions provides inspection, testing, and certification services, in addition to software solutions and consultancy services, to support business growth and product development. The UL Certification Marks represent an unrelenting commitment to improving the safety mission and serve as a recognized symbol of confidence in the customers' products. The company assists customers in innovating, introducing new products and services, navigating global marketplaces and intricate supply chains, and growing sustainably and ethically for the future.
About DeepHow
DeepHow was founded in 2018 by a group of researchers and engineers who used to work at Siemens. They saw an unmet need in the skilled trades market to transfer knowledge. They created a platform for capturing and learning from video-based knowledge that is powered by AI and fills the skills gap in the manufacturing, construction, and service industries. DeepHow makes it easier to capture knowledge by using AI workflow indexing and segmentation.
Read More