Gizmos - EVA - Adriana Silestre

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June 2021

Venture Analyst Reportby Adriana Silvestre

About Me

I am a math and science teacher to intermediate students in grades 7&8. I have a background in programming and I am passionate about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) topics. There is currently a need to bridge the STEM education gap, and it is important to find engaging and quality educational software to support student learning in STEM topics.

Rationale

image from Gizmo cell explorations

STEM Simulations

STEM is an economic driver which presents many opportunities. We need to prepare the next generation to meet those opportunities.STEM education creates critical thinkers, increases science literacy, and enables the next generation of innovators.

STEM Education

STEM employment growth since 1990 (from 9.7M to 17.3M)

of companies in biotech sectors reporting a lack of qualified STEM employees

rate that STEM occupations are growing compared to non-STEM occupations

30%

3:2

of top paying jobs, require STEM education

79%

70%

Since 1990 STEM employment has grown 79% (from 9.7 million to 17.3 million)

79%

Why STEM simulations?

Lengthy experiments make it harder to sustain student interest, which can prevent them from fully grasping the information in a meaningful way. Simulations can reduce school costs and safety risks. Schools can replace some laboratory equipment that would be more expensive to purchase and maintain and potentially dangerous to operate.

Simulations allow students to manipulate variables and witness the effects in real time; whereas nonsimulation experiments can take days, weeks, or months to collect data, analyze the results, and form a conclusion.

D'Angelo, C., Rutstein, D., & Harris, C. (2016)

Simulations for STEM learning in K-12 classrooms are by and large associated with improved learning outcomes for students, especially when focused on achievement outcomes and when compared to more traditional lecture and textbook-based instruction.

About

ExploreLearning Gizmos is the world’s largest library of interactive online simulations for math and science education in grades 3-12.

• Provides curriculum-based STEM learning simulations for the classroom
• Has over 400 math and science Gizmo simulations.
• Helps teachers take advantage of research-proven instructional strategies and build 21st Century skills for students.
• Runs on PCs, Macs, Chromebooks, iPads, and Android Devices.

Read whitepaper

Mission

Fun and easy to use, Gizmos help students develop a deep understanding of challenging concepts through inquiry and exploration. Students use Gizmos to interact with and explore hundreds of math and science topics ranging from heredity to trigonometry. Teachers use Gizmos as dynamic "what-if" tools to help students move beyond memorizing to true understanding.

ExploreLearning Gizmos Simulations

Venture Analysis

Founded in 1999 by

• Carl Frischkorn, and
• David Shuster Ph.D who is currently the president at Explore Learning

01

Founders

02

Financials

1999

Explore Learning becomes part of Cambium Learning group

2009

Cambium Leanring Group is listed on NASDAQ (ABCD)

2018

Cambium Learning is acquired by Veritas Capital

Merged & Aquired

2018

M&A by Veritas Capital

hiring growth

Employees

Annual Revenue

employees

218

7%

per year

$36M

03

Profile

Differentiation

Solution

Pain Point

ExploreLearning Gizmo Profile

04

Competition

Investing inGizmos

The impact of COVID-19 on education will undoubtedly change learning forever. In a year that saw PreK-12 digital curriculum spend exceed $13.1B and the percentage of schools and districts now issuing personal computing devices jump to 87%Through targeted product and go-to-market investments, Cambium’s Lexia Learning, Learning A-Z, Time4Learning, and ExploreLearning brands organically grew approximately 50% in 2020.

John Campbell, CEO of Cambium Learning Group.

“Looking ahead, we’ll continue to emphasize our core elements of simplicity, certainty and now to ensure all educators and students feel seen and supported.”

If interested in investing please contact Barbara Benson CFO of Cambium Learning.investorrelations@cambiumlearning.com

As an Educational Venture Analyst for Explore Learning Gizmos, I recommend investing in Cambium Learning as the company continues to grow, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for online applications and simulations.

Reflection

As a Science and Math teacher I am always looking for ways to promote critical thinking skills and provide my students with experiential learning opportunities that keep them engaged. STEM education requires a hands-on learning experience that can be achieved through simulations. I have been using GIZMOS for a few years now, and I have never even looked at the company that created it or the story behind it. I just know that my students enjoy using it, it develops critical thinking skills, supports STEM learning, it is easy to use as a teacher and my board has purchased the licenses for us to use. GIZMOS was the first educational application that came to mind when thinking about the EVA as I wanted to learn more about it as a venture. Throughout this EVA, I gained so much perspective about GIZMOS from the venture, business and investing side. I didn’t know that GIZMOS was invented more than 20 years ago, as it is so relevant and current to me. I learned how the business grew, it was traded in the NASDAQ market, and later on acquired by a private equity firm.

In my upcoming venture pitch my focus is on STEM applications for education, it was interesting to complete this EVA not only to learn about GIZMOS but also about its competitors and the ideas that are possible, such as Lab4u- an app envisioned by a Chilean and a Colombian developers to use cellphones as sensors for lab experiences. I also reviewed their venture profile and journey and it gives me motivation to think of creating my own venture. GIZMOS has been around for awhile and it gave me perspective to see what is possible to achieve and how a venture can grow.

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References