New Platform Investment Supports Really Great Reading’s Strong Growth Trajectory and Marks VSS’ Sixth Platform in the Education Sector
NEW YORK – JULY 10, 2020 – VSS Capital Partners (“VSS”), a private investment firm focused on investing in the education, healthcare, and business services industries, today announced that it has made a significant investment in Really Great Reading, LLC (“RGR”), a provider of high-quality, foundational literacy curriculum for students in primary grades.
Founded in 2005 by Scott DeSimone, RGR develops supplemental educational curriculum, focused on foundational literacy skills for students in grades K-3. The company has a comprehensive suite of proprietary products that include instruction, assessment, practice, and professional development that help educators teach scientifically proven reading strategies. RGR works with more than 15,000 teachers nationwide, in all 50 states, and in more than 10 countries. VSS’ investment will help RGR expand its digital learning solutions and accelerate growth in key markets across the country.
“We are excited to partner with Scott and the talented team at Really Great Reading. We look forward to working closely with them to build upon their impressive growth story as they continue to expand their product suite and enter new markets,” said David Bainbridge, Managing Director at VSS. “Reading proficiency levels in the United States have remained low for the last two decades, with 67% of students in 4th, 8th, and 12th grades unable to demonstrate proficiency. Educators and districts are looking for supplemental solutions that bridge the learning gap and not only provide effective products to students, but also empower the teachers with training and scientifically aligned tools to address their struggling readers.”
“We look forward to partnering with VSS, whose extensive experience in the education sector and strong network of relationships can help RGR reach its ambitious goals,” said Scott DeSimone, Founder and CEO of Really Great Reading. “The investment will enable us to provide better products and services and accelerate the company’s mission of improving outcomes for schools, districts, educators and students.”
“We are pleased to support the RGR team with VSS’ financial and operational resources as they continue their impressive growth trajectory,” said Jeffrey Stevenson, Managing Partner of VSS. “Our investment in RGR is well aligned with VSS’ strategy of partnering with management teams of highly scalable businesses to position them for long term success.”
VSS has a strong track record of investing in education sector, with prior investments in Cambium Learning Group (supplemental curriculum for grades K-12); VKidz Learning (elementary and homeschool curriculum); Infobase Learning (school and library reference databases); and Granada Learning (educational assessments), among others.
Alongside the investment, David Bainbridge and Yash Kandoi from VSS will join RGR’s board of directors.
About VSS
VSS is a private investment firm that invests in the education, healthcare, and business services industries. Headquartered in New York, VSS provides capital for growth financing, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, and buyouts to lower middle market companies and management teams with the goal of building companies organically as well as through a focused add-on acquisition program. VSS has managed 7 funds with $3.5 billion of committed capital under management, including 4 equity funds and 3 structured capital funds. VSS makes privately negotiated investments across the capital structure and invests in situations requiring control or non-control equity, mezzanine securities, and structured equity securities. For more information, please visit: www.vss.com.
About Really Great Reading
Really Great Reading is an educational content provider of foundational and supplemental literacy skills to primary grades with a focus on phonics and decoding. The company has a comprehensive suite of products that include instruction, assessment and professional development that help educators teach the foundational skills that lead to strong decoding and fluent reading.