Investment will drive ETS’s growth in international student experiences and recruitment
PRINCETON, N.J. (Sept. 16, 2020) — ETS Strategic Capital, a new unit of education nonprofit ETS created to grow its offerings and advance its mission, today announced that it facilitated the spin-off of EdAgree from ETS who provided the start-up company with $1 million in seed funding.
Through its user-friendly platform and partnerships with academic institutions, EdAgree seeks to optimize learning and experiential outcomes for international students in higher education. The concept for the company grew out of market research conducted by ETS’s New Product Development unit and, with the spin-off, EdAgree will become a subsidiary of ETS.
In a global education landscape in which assessment standards are constantly changing, EdAgree provides a value-add resource for international students to build essential skills and knowledge, demonstrate their proficiency and communicate their aspirations. The company then helps match these international students with universities and supports them throughout their education journey.
EdAgree validates student profile information, packages it for streamlined processing by admissions departments, and collaborates with universities to identify and deliver support that will optimize learning outcomes. As part of this, they also work with partner universities to construct predictive success algorithms that identify, for specific student profiles, intervention and support strategies that will help international students succeed.
Commenting on the spin-off and seed funding, Ralph Taylor-Smith, Managing Director of ETS Strategic Capital said, “EdAgree demonstrates ETS’s entrepreneurial spirit and ability to innovate from within, and we’re confident that as its own subsidiary, with ETS seed money, the company has significant growth potential. EdAgree addresses an underserved, growing market in higher education through its new business model, and is well-positioned to diversify ETS’s offering in higher education to drive recruitment and improve experiences and outcomes of international students.”
“By working with international students and universities from recruitment through graduation, EdAgree is about the relationship, not the transaction. This is a new way of thinking about success for international students and universities and it benefits both,” added EdAgree CEO and President Marlowe Johnson. “We believe that cross-border traffic, learning and exchange is a force for good in this increasingly global world and we are building products and services in higher education to help advance this cause.”
ETS Strategic Capital’s mandate is to broaden, expand and diversify ETS’s offerings in assessment, learning and development for K-12, higher education and corporations. It is actively seeking transactions to establish a global portfolio of innovative education companies that will have a positive financial and strategic impact by bringing technology, new business models and/or geographic coverage that complement and build out ETS’s current business. EdAgree is one of ETS Strategic Capital’s first five portfolio companies.
About EdAgree
EdAgree, Inc., a subsidiary of ETS, matches international students — EdAgree Scholars — with universities and supports those students throughout their education journey. EdAgree validates student profile information, packages it for streamlined processing by admissions departments, and collaborates with universities to identify and deliver support that will optimize learning outcomes.
About ETS
At ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and postsecondary education, and by conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded as a nonprofit in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® tests and The Praxis Series® assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide.
