EdBizWatch

SharpSchool Bought for $19 Million by West Corporation

The Toronto company provides web hosting and other online services for schools.

SharpSchool Bought for $19 Million by West Corp, Russell Hubbard, Omaha.com

Amazon launches AWS Educate to Promote Cloud Learning

Co hopes to form next gen of cloud specialists by bringing its services into classrooms.

Amazon launches AWS Educate to Promote Cloud Learning, Charlie Osborne, ZDNet

Instructure Raises $40M Led by Insight Venture Partners

Total capital behind co: $90 Million, will use funds to push company toward an IPO.

Instructure Raises $40 Million Led by Insight Venture Partners, J. Marino, Business Insider

Uncovering Security Flaws in Digital Ed Products for Students

At fault is a practice among start-ups of concentrating on increasing market share.

Uncovering Security Flaws in Digital Ed Products for Schoolchildren, N. SingerNYT

UClass Gets $1Million from Golden Angel Investors, Others

Co offers schools and districts a cloud storage and content management resources.

UClass Gets $1M to Give Districts a Dropbox for Digital Resources, Tony Wan, edSurge

SchoolChapters Acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Co platform lets users create portfolios to document learning, & align to ed standards.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Acquires SchoolChapters, Chris Reidy, Boston Globe

ConnectEDU Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

As many as 50 lost their jobs Monday, including CEO Evan Nisonson.

ConnectEDU Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Seline Jung, BostInno

CrossKnowledge Bought for $175 million by Wiley

Co offers teacher skills assessment, training & certifications delivered a via cloud platform.

CrossKnowledge Bought for $175 million by Wiley, Michael Calia, Wall Street Journal

Clever Raises $10.3 Million from Sequoia, Others

Company's platform integrates with DreamBox, Imagine Learning, MasteryConnect...

Clever Raises $10.3 Million from Sequoia, Others, Liz Gannes, Re/Code

Brainly: Crowdsourced School Homework

The 5-yr-old Poland-based co reached 23M uniques/mo & aunched 12 localizations.

Brainly: Crowdsourced School Homework, Andrii Degeler, The Next Web

Charterhouse in the Lead to Buy Skillsoft for $2.3 Billion

Skillsoft provides cloud-based learning solutions to 6K+ customers globally.

Charterhouse in the lead to buy Skillsoft, Kim, Roumeliotis, Damouni, Reuters

Renaissance Learning Sold for $1.1 Billion

Only last month Renaissance Learning raised $40M from Google, valuing co at $1B.

Renaissance Learning Sold for $1.1 Billion, Michael De La Merced, New York Times

Knowledge Delivery System Raises $6M from Edison Ventures

KDS is an online platform that provides teacher development in the K-12 space. 

Knowledge Delivery System Raises $6M, Kay Alexander, Edukwest

Can These Consumer Apps Crack the Education Space?

Google Apps. Evernote. Dropbox. YouTube. GitHub. To millions of students and teachers they are platforms at the core of learning.

Can These Consumer Apps Crack the Education Space? Ainsley O'Connell, FastCompany

Renaissance Learning Draws $40 Million From Google Capital

Deal values co at $1Billion. RL uses the cloud to help teachers develop lesson plans.

Google Capital invests $40M in Renaissance Learning, Michael J De La Merced, NYT

Microsoft Calls for Student Privacy Commitment

"...our industry needs to step up...by agreeing to not use [student] data for advertising, sales or marketing purposes." Margo Day, VP US Education

Microsoft Calls for Student Privacy Commitment from Cloud Industry, David Nagel, THE

U.S. Schools' Approach to Student Data Threatens Privacy

Fordham: districts have inadequate privacy protections, data-vulnerable vendor contracts.

US Schools' Approach to Student Data Threatens Privacy, Molly Hensley-Clancy, Reuters

14 Developments to Watch for in 2014

Assessments, OER, BYOD, online, playlists, platforms, growth measures...

14 Developments to Watch for in 2014, Tom Vander Ark, Education Week

Engrade Raises $5 Million from Javelin, Others

Company provides a cloud-based platform for teacher, school leaders & administrators.

Engrade Raises $5Mln, Luisa Beltran, peHUB

Hapara raises $3.2M From 12 Investors

The ed startup has developed an education management platform for Google Apps.

Education App Startup Hapara Raises $3.2Million, Cromwell Schubarth, BizJournal