Nerdy, a tutoring marketplace startup, is going public via SPAC
A gig economy-powered consumer edtech platform is heading to the New York Stock Exchange.
Edtech startup Nerdy, which owns the popular tutoring business Varsity Tutors, is seeking to become a public company through a special purpose acquisition vehicle, otherwise known as a SPAC.
Nerdy will merge with TPG Pace Tech Opportunities (NYSE: PACE), a publicly traded SPAC since 2015. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year.
The deal will value Nerdy at $1.7 billion. Through the transaction, the business plans to raise up to $750 million in cash, including $150 million in PIPE financing aggregated by Franklin Templeton, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, Koch Industries and Learn Capital.
Publicly traded education technology companies are rare. Soon, there will be one fewer after tech training provider Pluralsight gets taken private later this year. That leaves 2U, Chegg and Stride (formerly known as K12 Inc.) as the remaining trio of prominent edtech companies on the U.S. public market.
But this contraction may not last long, thanks in part to one of the industryâs earliest and most ebullient investors, who is steering a financial vehicle thatâs taken public markets by storm.
Earlier this month, Class Acceleration Corp. (CLAS.U), a special purpose acquisition company headed by CEO Michael Moe, raised $225 million in its IPO. Those funds will be used to purchase a privately held education company, which will then become public as a result of the transaction.