TopSchool Closes Funding Round and Establishes Board of Directors

Business Wire,  June 23, 2008  

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Leading Provider of SaaS Administrative Technology Solutions for Higher Education Raises $3.2 Million in Growth Capital and Appoints Industry Leaders to Board

DENVER -- TopSchool, the first SaaS provider of administrative solutions optimized for small to mid-size higher education institutions, has raised a $3.2 million round of funding. This round, led by Alsop Louie Partners in conjunction with the company management and board, will allow TopSchool to expand development and marketing of its suite of Web-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) Student Lifecycle Management (SLM) solutions.

"We are very impressed with TopSchool's vision, as the company leads the charge into the modern educational enterprise where software is delivered as a service," said Stewart Alsop, co-founder of Alsop Louie Partners. "We believe there is tremendous opportunity for TopSchool's SaaS administrative solution, which gives schools a flexible, low-cost option to deliver better and more effective programs to the students, while also improving a school's own operations."

In addition to closing this round of financing, the Denver-based company also announced the creation of a new board of directors with deep experience in the education and technology industries. TopSchool's board of directors includes:

* Stewart Alsop, founder and partner with Alsop Louie Partners, has significant experience working with early-stage technology companies. Alsop was a general partner with New Enterprise Associates and led that firm's investments in companies such as TiVo, Portola Communications (sold to Netscape), Netcentives, Glu Mobile, and Xfire. Before he became an investor, Alsop was editor-in-chief of InfoWorld, a weekly newspaper for information-technology professionals.

* Doug Kelsall, president and CFO of Education Sales Management, brings a wealth of financial and operational management experience in the education technology industry. Kelsall was the CFO at eCollege during its Initial Public Offering and served as the president and chief operating officer of eCollege until its 2007 sale to Pearson Education.

* Tony Digiovanni, vice president of Marketing at the Art Institutes, a part of Education Management Corporation (EDMC), has 20 years in senior executive roles with the leading for-profit, post-secondary education providers. Prior to EMDC, Digiovanni served as president of Corinthian Colleges and was CEO of University of Phoenix Online. He also served as president of Classes USA, an Experian company that provides a leading online higher education portal.

* Matthew Schnittman, president and CEO of TopSchool

* Leon Lo, founding CEO and current chief operating officer of TopSchool

"TopSchool has an incredible opportunity to provide a next-generation administrative solution to small and mid-size institutions. This round of funding will allow us to complete our SLM solution and invest heavily in customer service to ensure our clients' success," said Schnittman. "The knowledge and experience of our board gives us a great advantage in delivering a solution that meets the needs of the higher education market."

About TopSchool

TopSchool (www.topschoolinc.com), the first SaaS provider of administrative technology solutions optimized for small to mid-size higher education institutions, enables institutions to effectively drive decisions and insights across the student lifecycle. TopSchool's Student Lifecycle Management (SLM) system provides a comprehensive information management solution - a CRM to aggregate and manage leads, a customizable student and faculty portal, a student information system that is easy to implement, a robust ad-hoc reporting suite, and a customer service model that serves students, faculty and administrators. TopSchool SLM is architected using next generation technologies and offered exclusively in a SaaS model - which means TopSchool manages one version of the software for all customers, translating into quick and inexpensive implementation, easy configuration, no maintenance costs and no upgrade fees.

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