News from the Wire

ClassWallet education funds platform closes investment with Brentwood

Tuesday, January 10, 2017 — 11:54:43 (EST)

Hollywood, Fla., and Los Angeles, Jan. 10, 2017 -- ClassWallet, a market-leading platform that streamlines the tracking of education funds, has closed a minority investment from Brentwood Associates (“Brentwood”). Brentwood is a leading consumer-focused private equity investment firm that has made several investments in the education space. ClassWallet represents the fifth education-related investment for Brentwood. Several existing ClassWallet investors also participated in the funding round.

Founded by Jamie Rosenberg, ClassWallet is a platform for school systems to disburse and track funds. The company also is gaining traction with university athletic departments for per diem expense management, as well as with states for education savings account management, an integral component to school choice. ClassWallet is currently used in over 850 schools and is working in some of the largest school districts in the United States, including Los Angeles Unified and Polk County, the first and 30th largest districts, respectively. ClassWallet plans to release the latest version of its platform in January 2017, which will include a highly innovative solution to allow schools to accept cash payments from parents without taking cash into the school building or classroom. Several districts are already working with ClassWallet to implement the solution. In partnership with Brentwood, ClassWallet will accelerate its product roadmap and invest in sales and marketing efforts to help expand distribution.

Commenting on the investment, Rosenberg said, “We are excited to partner with the Brentwood team as we look to invest in accelerating our growth. Brentwood brings a variety of value-add capabilities, including digital marketing and salesforce expertise, which will allow us to invest in new customer acquisition efforts and expand our distribution.”

Eric Reiter, partner at Brentwood, commented, “We have made several investments in the education sector, and ClassWallet aligns well with our strategy of targeting growing companies with a differentiated product offering and high levels of customer loyalty and satisfaction. ClassWallet’s patent-pending technology is highly innovative and satisfies a real need in a large addressable market. We look forward to working with Jamie and his team to continue the incredible momentum they have created.”

ClassWallet is the most recent investment in Brentwood Associates’ latest fund, Brentwood Associates Private Equity V, L.P., which held a final close in December of 2014. Other current and prior education investments include Excelligence Learning Corp., The Great Courses, Classroom Connect and Educational Publishing Corp.

About ClassWallet

ClassWallet is the leading end-to-end digital solution to manage funding within school systems. The platform combines funds disbursement, e-commerce, a reloadable debit card and tracking in a fully integrated manner designed for maximum simplicity and accountability. ClassWallet brings accountability to a $23 billion system that relies heavily on cash, checks, and purchase orders that add up to 40 percent transaction costs and a fund-spend-track lifecycle that takes weeks. ClassWallet reduces these transaction costs to less than 5 percent, and the transaction lifecycle to same day. For more information about ClassWallet, please visit www.classwallet.com .

About Brentwood Associates

Brentwood Associates is a leading consumer-focused private equity investment firm with a 30-year history of investing in leading middle-market growth companies. Brentwood focuses on investments in growing businesses where it is able to leverage its extensive experience in areas such as: branded consumer products; multi-location strategies; direct-to-customer marketing, including direct mail and e-commerce; niche brands with specialty distribution; education; and business services. Since 1984, Brentwood's dedicated private equity team has invested in over 50 portfolio companies with an aggregate transaction value of over $6 billion. With significant experience in both investing and brand building, Brentwood is a value-added partner with entrepreneurs and senior management teams building world-class companies. For more information about Brentwood, please visit www.brentwood.com .

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Source: Company press release.