Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal | March 22, 2021 | HartfordBusiness.com Startups, Innovation & Technology By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com W hen Glastonbury- based Finalsite began designing websites for private and public school districts back in 2000, most communication between teachers/ administrators and parents were handled via notes stuffed in kids' backpacks. But a couple decades and a global pandemic later, Finalsite is betting that the ability for schools to communicate digitally with parents, and handle remote learning via tech platforms will be as necessary as manila report card envelopes once were. And with the recent acquisition of an Austin, Texas-based digital enrollment management company SchoolAdmin, Finalsite sees itself as well-placed to fill that need. "Now that parents are accustomed to learning things online ... that's going to be the expectation moving forward," said Morgan Delack, Finalsite's director of communications. "Even after COVID, I believe schools everywhere are really going to latch onto these digital communication skills." Jonathan Moser, Finalsite's CEO, founded the company in 1998. It originally built websites for businesses and nonprofits, but soon started making them for schools, he said. Over the years Finalsite expanded its digital services and reach in terms of the number of school districts that use its products. Finalsite now offers online portals for parents of K-12 students where they can receive all announcements from the school, communicate with teachers and even watch streaming sporting events and graduations. Prior to its recent acquisition, the company employed about 180 people and its strong growth record has attracted outside capital, including from private equity. At one point it was purchased by Spectrum Equity (which owns SurveyMonkey), and then by New York private equity fund Bridge Growth Partners, which is currently Finalsite's majority owner. In October, Boston-based HarbourVest Partners made a significant undisclosed investment in Finalsite and became a minority owner, the company said. As an early player in the now- booming education-technology space, Finalsite has always understood how schools can employ technology options to improve communication with parents and students, Moser said. But the COVID-19 pandemic supercharged that idea, leading Finalsite to grow more in its offerings and relevance. "It can't just be a website anymore, we need to change it so schools roll out a 'Digital Campus,' " Moser said. "We're basically saying, 'yeah, you're going to go back to the brick and mortar at some point again, but you are still going to have to have a digital school going forward." The new package of tools on Finalsite's Digital Campus includes a "distance learning hub" that allows teachers and school administrators to publish digital notices that can At a Glance: Company: Finalsite Industry: Education technology Top Executive: Jonathan Moser, CEO & Founder HQ: 655 Winding Brook Drive, Glastonbury Company Website: https://www. finalsite.com/ Phone Number: 1-860-289-3507 automatically be pushed out via email, text messages and mobile app notifications. Last spring, when social distancing measures led to canceled graduations, Finalsite included in the Digital Campus an online graduation option. The feature enables schools to create a graduation web portal that includes photos and bios of graduating seniors, along with a secure streaming channel that broadcasts graduation ceremonies, which were done without audiences last year. Moser said the feature was a hit, and he expects it to include other events for parents who can't make it to their child's games, plays and science fair presentations. Consistent growth The SchoolAdmin acquisition allows the Glastonbury company to pump up its offerings for enrollment management, Moser said. SchoolAdmin's platform focuses on making things like online tuition payments and school contracts, which fall squarely within Finalsite's wheelhouse of facilitating relations between schools and parents. Moser didn't disclose financial details of the deal, but said the company grew to 230 employees with the acquisition. He also thinks it will help Finalsite maintain its position as the world's largest provider of content management software for schools, serving some 5,000 schools in 110 countries, Moser said. "We grow on average between 10% and 20% per year," said Moser, who added that Finalsite brought on five more new clients last year than in 2019, despite not gaining any new business during the first couple of months of COVID-19. In the coming years, Moser only sees growth in the ed-tech space, and specifically in school-to-parent communications. That's because the pandemic forced people to find solutions to problems that exist independent of COVID-19. Family members often can't make it to a graduation they want to attend, and parents would rather be able to access all school updates and announcements through a mobile app, than sift through their email inbox for notices they may have glossed over, Moser said. "There's a level of virtual learning that is here to stay because of COVID, and education has absolutely changed," Moser said. "It's actually taken a step forward, I feel." Pandemic supercharges Glastonbury education tech firm Finalsite's 'Digital Campus' offerings Jonathan Moser is CEO and founder of Glastonbury education technology company Finalsite, which recently grew to 230 employees via acquisition. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED West Hartford Public Schools uses Finalsite's digital platform to communicate with students' parents. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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