ParentSquare notches growth investment, fueled by KC startup acquisition, pandemic trends

A significant growth investment is expected to help push edtech platform ParentSquare’s expansion into new markets and products — nearly 18 months after the Santa Barbara company announced the acquisition of a Kansas City startup’s school communication app.

The undisclosed investment by Serent Capital also follows ParentSquare’s successful navigation of pandemic-era communication needs between parents and schools, said Matt Miquelon, director of product management for ParentSquare and formerly chief product officer for KC-based Signal Kit. 

“The pandemic has driven growth and investment in the edtech sector and in ParentSquare thanks to increased needs for remote learning and other tools to support these challenges,” he said.

ParentSquare was first to market with a COVID-19 Daily Health Screening tool for customers providing in-person learning, Miquelon added, noting the company has collected more than 20 million screenings since the start of the 2020-21 school year. 

The West Coast company — founded in 2011 by a wife-and-husband duo Anupama Vaid and Sohit Wadhwa — acquired Signal Kit in March 2020, just as pandemic impacts began to be felt. The team has since doubled in size with a significant workforce — focused on tech, sales and customer support — operating from Kansas City, Miquelon said.

Founded in 2015, Signal Kit — one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2019 — was a community messaging tool for school districts to send in-app voice, SMS, email, and push notifications to their entire communities. ParentSquare’s platform unifies all school communication tools from the district office to the classroom, providing oversight throughout and powerful reporting metrics.

Serent’s investment is expected to support ParentSquare’s growth by deploying its Growth Team resources to help the company scale the new customer acquisition engine, invest behind existing customer success, and explore new opportunities to bring adjacent solutions to the customer base and solve a broader set of pain points for schools, the company said. Serent will also assist ParentSquare in identifying opportunities to grow via strategic partnerships and acquisitions.

Used by millions of educators and families in more than 44 states, ParentSquare has raised more than $12 million over six funding rounds since the company’s founding, though details of the Serent deal were not released.

“Serent’s investment is a reflection of the trust schools and districts have placed in us, and how we’ve grown to meet their communications needs,” said Wadhwa, who serves as CEO of ParentSquare.