The software of Portfolium, a San Diego startup that hosts online portfolios for students trying to showcase their achievements to potential employers, is set to join the portfolio of Utah educational software company Instructure.
Instructure (NYSE: [[ticker:INST]]) has agreed to acquire privately held Portfolium. No financial terms of the deal, which was announced Tuesday, were disclosed.
Founded in 2014 by CEO Adam Markowitz, Portfolium sells academic institutions access to what it calls its ePortfolio network, which, along with hosting student portfolios, also offers student assessments and job matching services. Students at schools that subscribe use the platform for free.
The company has hundreds of customers around the world. And more than 4 million students from about 3,600 colleges, universities, and high schools have tried out the service, according to the company.
Instructure has a teaching platform called Canvas for educational institutions, both K-12 and higher education, and employee development and engagement software called Bridge that it sells to corporations. Instructure says its software has been used by more than 4,000 educational institutions and corporations globally.
Instructure CFO Steve Kaminsky, on an earnings call Tuesday, said the company plans to pitch Portfolium to Canvas customers that don’t already use it. But Instructure also sees an opportunity to push greater adoption of the startup’s service, according to CEO Dan Goldsmith.
“Portfolium is still at the early stages, and so part of the acquisition is based upon their feedback that we’ve received from common customers and organizations out in the market, but there’s still a huge opportunity moving forward to expand,” Goldsmith said on the call.
Instructure reported a nearly $22 million loss on about $210 million in non-GAAP earnings in 2018; revenue rose 30 percent compared with 2017 earnings. The company anticipates a loss of $21.5 million to $23.5 million on earnings of $256 million to $260 million this year, guidance that takes into account the Portfolium acquisition, according to Kaminsky.
Since its launch, Portfolium, which spent a stretch in San Diego’s EvoNexus accelerator, has raised more than $8 million in a series of financing rounds, including a Series A round of about $6.6 million in 2016 led by Durham, NC-based SJF Ventures and a $1.2 million round in the year prior.
Read more about Portfolium’s early days here.
The acquisition is subject to closing conditions, including approval by Portfolium shareholders.
