Carrick Capital Partners has acquired Flatiron School, an educational provider of on-line coding skills, from WeWork.
New York City-based Flatiron School is an educational institution that teaches software engineering, computer programming, data science, and cybersecurity analytics. The company was founded in 2012 by CEO Adam Enbar and Avi Flombaum and sold to WeWork in 2017.
“We’re excited to have Carrick in our corner as we embark on this next chapter,” said Mr. Enbar. “Our goal at Flatiron is to do whatever we can to fix a broken and expensive educational system that doesn’t always prepare students with the skills they need for successful careers. As we work to redefine what higher education means, and what it can do to lift up a generation of underserved students, it’s important we acknowledge the shortcomings of education in tech, an industry that’s still made up of only 7% Black professionals.”
The acquisition by Carrick follows Flatiron’s July 2020 launch of the John Stanley Ford Fellowship to support the advancement of Black tech professionals. The new fellowship program partners with companies to create apprenticeships that offer on-the-job training, mentorship, and access and opportunities to the tech community and scholarships to Flatiron School programs. John Stanley Ford was IBM’s first Black software engineer – he was hired in 1946 – and he was also America’s first Black system engineer.
“We’re proud of our investment in the future of technology education at Flatiron School,” said Jim Madden, Carrick’s co-founder and managing director. “Diversity in tech starts with increasing access to, and benefit from, skills training, networking, and corporate hiring. We know the John Stanley Ford Fellowship is one step forward along a much-needed path toward change in the industry.”
Carrick invests in software and software-enabled businesses that have revenues of $20 million to $100 million. The firm was co-founded in 2012 by Marc McMorris, a former General Atlantic managing director who led investments in business services and software, and Jim Madden, the founder and chief executive of Exult, a human resources business processing company. Carrick has offices in San Francisco and Newport Beach.
WeWork is a commercial real estate company that provides shared workspaces and services for technology startups. The company was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in New York City.
Private Equity Professional | August 10, 2020
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