Investor buys edtech business for £27.5m

Education software business Impero has been bought for £27.5m, trebling its value just three years after a management buyout.

Investcorp Technology Partners has bought the Nottingham-based business from investor Connection Capital.

Impero provides online safeguarding software to educational establishments around the world. It also has a Californian office, with American revenues accounting for one-fifth of the company’s total.

Sam Pemberton, chief executive of Impero, said: “Connection Capital’s support has enabled us to drive innovation forward and establish a premier position in the EdTech arena.

“Having achieved everything we set out to achieve with Connection Capital, we are now looking forward to delivering on our next set of business goals with Investcorp Technology Partners.”

After 15 years in business, Impero’s software is now accessed by more than 1.5m devices in more than 90 countries, including over 1,400 UK secondary schools.

Bernard Dale, partner at Connection Capital, said: “When we invested in Impero three years ago, it was an opportunity for our clients to back the continued development of best-in-breed education software which addressed huge market potential.”

“Today, in an increasingly crowded marketplace, the business is performing extremely well, with a strong roadmap of product enhancements and a pipeline of new contract opportunities in the US and globally, as well as a market-leading presence in the UK.”