LDC takes bite out of global edtech firm

The Manchester office of mid-market private equity firm LDC has invested in an edtech company specialising in VR for the classroom.

The investment in £20m turnover Avantis will help the company expand into new international markets.

Founded in 2007, Avantis has delivered its diverse portfolio of learning products to tens of thousands of schools in more than 90 countries worldwide.

It has also developed VR headset system designed specifically for the classroom..

Since the introduction of the multi award-winning classroom solution ClassVR, Avantis has made significant inroads into the field of augmented and virtual reality in the K-12 classroom.

ClassVR is a complete system of hardware, software, content and teacher controls that immerses students in a wide variety of augmented and virtual reality experiences, sparking creativity and improving pupil engagement.

With the launch of Avantis World; the world’s first educational VR theme park and Eduverse; a safe and secure K-12 Metaverse platform, the company is set to drive significant growth in new market segments and territories.

The company is led by founder Nik Tuson and managing director Huw Williams.

Former Texthelp CEO Mark McCusker is joining the board as non-executive director to support Avantis’ international expansion plans.

A previous LDC portfolio company, Texthelp is a market leading international education and corporate software provider that grew revenues 40% and expanded across the US during an 18-month partnership.

LDC’s investment was led by partner Aziz Ul-Haq and investment manager Grant Goodwin from its North West team, both of whom will also join the board.

Andy McEwan will continue as non-executive chair.

Huw Williams said: “It’s been fantastic to see so many schools globally embrace the power of virtual reality and we’re excited to be working with LDC to support our next phase of growth. LDC’s sector experience from supporting leading ed-tech businesses like Texthelp was crucial when choosing a private equity partner to support our vision.”

Aziz Ul-Haq added: “The team at Avantis are bringing industry-leading technological solutions to the education market that support better outcomes for students. We’re looking forward to working to supporting the business reach even more students across the world.”

Key Capital Partners will remain invested in Avantis to continue to support the business following its initial investment in February 2020.

This transaction marks the LDC North West team’s fifth investment in the last 12 months.

It follows the team’s recent investments in digital agency CTI Group and healthcare solutions firm EMS, and builds on the team’s record breaking 2021 in which they completed transactions with a combined enterprise value of more than £500m.

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