Subject category:
Entrepreneurship
Published by:
Darden Business Publishing
Length: 35 pages
Topics:
Investing; Private equity
Abstract
This case study describes the decision by Ascend Ventures to invest in a firm that falls outside their investment strategy. Ascend Ventures is a relatively young private equity firm that has targeted technology companies that are managed by women or minorities. The company under their consideration, Platform Learning, operates in the for-profit education market, providing supplemental education services to children in failing public schools. Because Platform Learning is not a technology company, Ascend''s investment managers are worried about their ability to add value in this market and concerned about how their limited partners might react to this investment.
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Abstract
This case study describes the decision by Ascend Ventures to invest in a firm that falls outside their investment strategy. Ascend Ventures is a relatively young private equity firm that has targeted technology companies that are managed by women or minorities. The company under their consideration, Platform Learning, operates in the for-profit education market, providing supplemental education services to children in failing public schools. Because Platform Learning is not a technology company, Ascend''s investment managers are worried about their ability to add value in this market and concerned about how their limited partners might react to this investment.