The Magic Number for Any Successful Education Technology Acquisition

When deciding whether a company is viable to be bought, CareMonkey president Peter Bencivenga says the magic number is 90 percent. That number refers to customer retention rate, and Bencivenga said he’s called off potential acquisitions when a company’s performance in this department isn’t up to snuff. Retention, he says, is “the one thing that could always go haywire in an acquisition.” For him, companies need to clear the bar of 90 percent customer retention in order to be suitable acquisition candidates. When it comes to getting acquisition advice, whether purchasing or selling, look no further than Bencivenga. He’s been involved in six edtech acquisitions over the past seven years, on both sides of the table. Bencivenga, who will be coaching entrepreneurs on acquisitions at EdSurge Immersion NYC in September, founded DataCation (later named CaseNEX DataCation) in 2007, and made his first acquisition in 2011, buying the assessment business DataDriven Classroom.