Serent Capital Announces Acquisition of DIGARC by Modern Campus and Its Minority Investment in the Combined Company

Serent Capital Announces Acquisition of DIGARC by Modern Campus and Its Minority Investment in the Combined Company

Combined Company Empowers Colleges and Universities to Solve Two of the Biggest Challenges Faced Today: Attracting and Engaging Prospective Students Efficiently

June 10, 2021

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.

Read More About How Serent Partners with Education Companies

Serent Capital invests in growing businesses that have developed compelling solutions that address their customers' needs. As those businesses grow and evolve, the opportunities and challenges that they face change with them. Principals at Serent Capital have firsthand experience at capturing those opportunities and navigating these difficulties through their experiences as CEOs, strategic advisors, and board members to successful growing businesses. By bringing its expertise and capital to bear, Serent seeks to help growing businesses thrive. Learn more about our portfolio companies.

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