PR88430

PRINCETON, N.J., March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

-- ETS Strategic Capital executes transactions with two innovative tech

companies in further expansion and growth of investment and acquisition

portfolio

ETS Strategic Capital, a unit within ETS focused on growing its educational

business and advancing the organization's strategic mission impact through

equity investments, growth partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions, today

announced new deals with two companies that allow for the further expansion of

the group's portfolio.

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The new companies joining ETS Strategic Capital's portfolio include:

   -- MPOWER(R) Financing: A Washington, D.C. and Bangalore, India based

      FinTech lender focused on increasing access for the international and

      DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) student communities that

      are currently underserved by conventional banks. ETS Strategic Capital

      made a minority investment in MPOWER Financing's most recently-closed

      financing round and plans to leverage its largely international

      connections to student borrowers in Asia-Pacific regions, primarily India

      and China. This connection will aim to help increase synergies between

      student borrowers globally and ETS's GRE(R) and TOEFL(R) programs.

      https://www.mpowerfinancing.com

"MPOWER is delighted to be working with ETS and exploring ways to support the

millions of students who test with them globally every year. By democratizing

access to financing, we hope an even greater number of qualified students

around the globe will venture to study in North America," said Manu Smadja,

MPOWER Financing's CEO and Co-founder. "As impact-oriented firms with a global

outlook, our teams instantly connected and are excited to help students attain

the best possible educational outcomes."

   -- Vericant: Vericant is comprised of United States, China and

      internationally-located teams of admissions professionals who are working

      to help transform the face of international admissions and assessment.

      Vericant aims to aid admissions officers in being able to better evaluate

      their candidates through 1:1 video interviews, allowing them to make

      informed decisions with comprehensive information. Via a cross-border M&A

      transaction, ETS Strategic Capital has acquired Vericant, which going

      forward will operate as a new subsidiary of ETS. Vericant's services are

      not new to ETS – they were previously utilized in strategic collaboration

      as part of ETS's TOEFL ITP(R) Plus for China solution, which was

      developed to support Chinese students while in-person TOEFL iBT(R)

      testing was suspended as a result of COVID-19. https://www.vericant.com/

"Our broader vision is to have a video interview with every application to the

institutions," said Guy Sivan, CEO of Vericant. "We have spent years focused on

developing and delivering the tools, systems and expertise of our

interviews-as-a-service solution to institutions and students worldwide and I

can't think of a better way to continue to expand our impact than by joining

ETS."

MPOWER Financing and Vericant join ETS Strategic Capital's already robust

portfolio that bring innovative technology, new business models and enhanced

geographic coverage, as well as complimentary technological capabilities to

ETS's current business areas. The previously announced deals include those with

ApplyBoard, Capti, EdAgree, Pipplet and Gradschoolmatch.

"Our newest investments and acquisitions are a reflection of our mandate to

leverage external inorganic entrepreneurial high-growth tech business

innovations to expand on the capabilities and align to the mission of ETS,"

said Ralph Taylor-Smith, the Managing Director of ETS Strategic Capital.

"Through equity investments, growth partnerships and M&A, we continue to

explore new and emerging business opportunities globally for ETS to serve

learners worldwide."

About ETS Strategic Capital

ETS Strategic Capital serves as the private equity investment and M&A execution

arm for ETS, its subsidiaries and its partners sourcing transactions within

both the domestic United States and internationally. The unit partners with the

broader EdTech ecosystem to identify and execute deals, coordinate with other

ETS business units to identify opportunities and needs, network with

professional services firms with education expertise, and build direct

relationships with businesses internationally — especially within Asia Pacific,

Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Middle East & Africa (MENA) regions. ETS

Strategic Capital targets private equity investments that are typically in

Series B, C or later; acquisitions that are middle-market in scale; and growth

partnerships that may involve joint ventures (JVs), channel-affiliate or

distribution agreements, Intellectual Property (IP) licensing and

technology-transfer relationships. www.ets.capital

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(R) and TOEIC(R) tests, the GRE(R) tests and The Praxis Series(R)

assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide.

www.ets.org

SOURCE: ETS