FullBloom acquired CharacterStrong, a provider of school-based mental health programs and professional development.
FullBloom — which offers K-12 districts mental health, academic, and behavioral interventions and supports — said the deal would allow the organization to create a new division within the company focused on mental health and bolster its product offerings in the space.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
CharacterStrong, founded in 2016, is aimed at offering mental health supports to students in a multi-tiered structure, which includes offering Tier 1 foundational skills to other students and more targeted interventions in Tiers 2 and 3.
FullBloom’s operating divisions — Catapult Learning, Specialized Education Services, Inc., and Little Leaves Behavioral Services — together serve more than 1,350 school districts and 190,000 students each year, the company said.
“The addition of CharacterStrong expands our school-based mental health footprint and brings us one step closer to offering a full-scale set of mental health products and services that does not exist in the K-12 market,” FullBloom CEO Jeffrey Cohen said in a statement.
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The deal comes two years after the company acquired EmpowerU, a Tier 2 service provider that pairs coaches with students to focus on mental health concerns.
As part of the acquisition, CharacterStrong’s team will establish a new mental health division at FullBloom, with CharacterStrong co-founder John Norlin leading it as general manager of FullBloom Mental Health.
“With FullBloom’s vast experience and scale in K12 education, we’re excited to take this next step towards becoming the leader in school-based mental health,” Norlin said in a statement. “Together, we will help build resilience, promote well-being, and reduce the need for more intensive interventions.”
Enrollment, alumni engagement companies merge. Three companies in the education enrollment and alumni engagement space are merging, the companies announced.
Gravyty, a provider of alumni and donor fundraising and engagement tools, said it’s merging with Ivy.ai and Ocelot, which offer AI chatbots to help higher education institutions and K-12 school districts increase student enrollment and engagement.
All three companies are backed by K1 Investment Management, a Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based private equity firm focused on small cap business-to-business software investments, according to data from Tracxn.
Terms of the merger were not disclosed.
The combined companies will operate under the Gravyty brand, and will be able to offer both customers additional AI tools and easier-to-use integrations, it said.
“By combining Ivy and Ocelot’s expertise, we’re empowering institutions with a seamless, data-driven solution to break down silos, personalize interactions at scale, and future-proof their strategies,” Gravyty Chief Marketing Officer Sharon Harrison said in a statement.
Gravyty, founded in 2016, has raised $23.8 million in equity funding to date, including $21 million in a Series B round led by K1 in January 2020.
Since then, the company has completed a number of add-on acquisitions, including of fundraising software Advance in February of 2020; recruitment tool Peerpal in July of 2021; video platform Gratavid in May of 2022; and mentoring and fundraising app Fabrik in November of 2022.
Ocelot, which raised $117 million from K1 in September 2022, offers AI-powered chatbots aimed at helping education institutions increase efficiency and improve student engagement and enrollment.
Ivy.ai also offers AI chatbots for education institutions. Its only reported outside investor is K1 Investment Management, Tracxn data show.