Stukent to add jobs with private equity investment 

Education technology company Stukent, based out of Idaho Falls, has received an investment from Tritium Partners, a private equity firm with offices in Utah and Texas, to grow its resources.

Stukent founder and CEO Stuart Draper said he could not disclose the amount of the investment, but he expects it will allow the company to hire around 120 people in the next 18 months.

“These are multiple six-figure positions,” he said. “With COVID, and the current challenges we’re facing with recruiting, we may offer more work-from-home opportunities, and expand our reach outside of eastern Idaho.”

The investment will also allow Stukent to offer enhanced benefits packages to both new and existing employees.

“As you grow your business, you reach stages where you can improve the benefits that are available to your team,” Draper said. “This allows us to roll out a very competitive 401k plan, along with other benefits.”

Stukent partnered with Vista Point Advisors, a San Francisco-based boutique investment bank, to secure the growth investment from Tritium.

As part of the deal, Tritium appointed Tim McEwen to Stukent’s board of directors. McEwen is an industry veteran who has served as CEO for Thomson Learning (now Cengage), Lifelong Learning Archipelago Learning and Study Island.

“I am incredibly impressed with how Stukent’s online simulations pair with its courseware to create an immersive, fully interactive and engaging experience for learners,” McEwen said in a statement. “I am thrilled to be joining Stukent and to be playing a part in its next phase of helping professors impact student outcomes.”

Draper said the pairing of McEwen’s experience and Tritium’s track record makes the deal attractive well beyond the influx of capital.

“We’re teaming up with Tritium Partners for the growth capital they provide, but also their expertise,” Draper said. “Study Island grew from $14 million to $90 million while (McEwen) was there. And Tritium Partners is the investment group that took Vrbo and HomeAway from $10 million, to north of $3 billion in value.”

Founded in 2013, Stukent is on track to surpass $11 million in sales this year, and is expecting 50% year over year growth for the next two to three years, according to Draper.

Stukent’s courseware and simulations are designed for use in high schools and higher education institutions, and its products are used by over 9,000 instructors in over 70 countries.

Draper said the company’s products allow students to gain needed knowledge in real time, and to use what they learn right away, instead of waiting until they’ve graduated.

“What we’re doing is providing the hands-on experience to apply the things you’re learning, as soon as you learn them. There’s a lot of power in that,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons YouTube has been so successful with how-to videos. As soon as you need the knowledge, you can go to YouTube and get it, and then go right to work and fix your car, or fix your kitchen sink.”

Stukent has also expanded its product offerings into new business disciplines, including communications, supply chain, advertising, journalism, finance, economics and accounting.

“Really, any subject where industry is moving faster than academia, we’re going there,” Draper said. “Long term, we see an opportunity for us to change all of education with the simulations we provide.”

Tritium Partners was founded in 2013. With more than $800 million of assets under management, the private equity firm focuses on technology and services companies with exceptional growth potential.

“We’ve teamed up with a growth partner that really knows what it takes to build a business that will scale,” Draper said. “We want to put Idaho Falls on the technology map.”