Kuali Raises $10 Million From Owl Ventures To Help Higher Ed Transform Administration

Cloud software company's modular approach provides much-needed alternative to big vendor control

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Feb 13, 2018, 02:08 ET

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Kuali, a SaaS software company focused exclusively on serving higher education, today announced it has closed $10 million in funding to fuel the company's growth in simplifying college and university administration.

"Higher ed software needs to be disrupted," said Joel Dehlin, CEO, Kuali. "Institutions have waited for well-designed software at an affordable price for too long. Colleges and universities are looking toward the cloud and they deserve better than the heavy, costly, and overly-complex ERP systems that have dominated the last couple of decades. Kuali is delivering the alternative."

"Kuali continues to be the best model for administrative software in higher education," said Patrick J. Burns, Dean of Libraries, VP for IT, Colorado State University. "The functionality is better and the savings are substantial, versus other solutions. This latest development ensures that Kuali will continue to serve our needs in the best possible manner, and accelerate delivery."

Owl Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital fund that specializes in education technology, is investing to expedite product development (including the student information system and research suites), and expand sales and marketing efforts.

"We only work with visionary entrepreneurs who are driven to revolutionize education — the most exciting sector of our economy," said Amit Patel, Partner, Owl Ventures. "Kuali fits this niche perfectly, matching a powerful mission with proven success and an enormous business opportunity."

"Owl is going to be a fantastic partner and great addition to the Kuali board," added Dehlin. "They don't just bring money. They bring experience, smarts, and a passion for education."

Kuali began in 2005 as a non-profit, open-source community initiative for developing higher education administrative systems that provided better long-term alternatives to what was available. In 2014, the Kuali company was created to accelerate software development, improve the user experience, and bring Kuali products to the cloud, while continuing to support open source. Over the past 3+ years Kuali has grown to more than 70 employees and 160 customers. Kuali products include Kuali Curriculum and Catalog Management, Kuali Financials, Kuali Research, and Kuali Ready (business continuity) solutions.

ABOUT KUALI
Kuali delivers administrative software built specifically for higher education to more than 160 institutions using modern, cloud-based technologies. Thoughtfully-designed software streamlines processes to significantly reduce costs for student services, financials, research, and continuity planning. www.kuali.co.

ABOUT OWL VENTURES
Owl Ventures is a San Francisco based venture capital fund that invests in the world's leading education technology companies across the education spectrum including early childhood, K-12, higher education and career mobility/professional learning. The team takes an active hands-on approach in helping entrepreneurs scale their businesses into transformative category leading companies. The firm has $285 million assets under management across two funds. www.OwlVC.com

SOURCE Kuali