EdCaliber Closes $500,000 Investment, Adds Seasoned Executives

Online, August 28, 2013 (Newswire.com) - EdCaliber, provider of Instructional Improvement Software to K-12 school districts, today announced it has hired accomplished executives Dan Tierney as Chief Revenue Officer, and Ralph Risch as Chief Marketing Officer. These hires come on the heels of $500,000 in convertible debt financing, including $165,000 from TiE Oregon Angels. The financing round was led by Nitin Rai, president of TiE's Oregon chapter and CEO of First Insight Corporation in Hillsboro, and Daren Nelson, a TiE Oregon Charter Member and Founder/CEO of iSupport Software in Vancouver, WA. The investment will be used to support the company's go-to-market strategy and accelerate its expansion in the U.S. education market. EdCaliber was founded by Kevin Stone, a serial entrepreneur from Silicon Valley and Ruth Miller, a school improvement specialist with over 30 years experience in education. Kevin relocated the company to Portland, Oregon in 2010 from Silicon Valley where he previously co-founded BeVocal, a $50M annual revenue SaaS company.

Coincident with this investment Rai will be joining the EdCaliber board of directors. EdCaliber, located in the TiE Pearl startup incubator, is the second company to receive funding from TIE Oregon Angels to take space there. Said Rai, "The K-12 Curriculum Management space is undergoing a massive disruption with the introduction of Common Core State Standards. We were very impressed with Kevin's leadership in building out the executive team to complement their best of class technology and early customer acquisition including school districts in Oregon and other states. EdCaliber is well situated to grab a leadership position in this fast growing market segment."

EdCaliber's secure, cloud-based system gives teachers and administrators the ability to manage resources and track student learning. The company's intuitive interface allows teachers to track student progress against specific standards, including the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and English Language Development Standards, and then quickly re-engage those students who are not meeting the benchmark. This software platform also allows teachers to share learning resources and best practices across a school, district, or state.

Dan Tierney has been scaling revenue for early stage businesses for over 25 years. As SVP of Sales for Chockstone, he grew sales 1,000% and built the customer base from a single customer to thousands. Following the purchase of Chockstone by Heartland Payment Systems, Dan was responsible for gift and loyalty solution sales across all retail markets from a single location to the largest retailers in the U.S.

Ralph Risch has led the marketing of software and SaaS companies for 25 years. Ralph is also a serial entrepreneur, having successfully built and sold two companies. Most recently he founded Portland-based TechTracker, Inc. and served as its President and CEO until it was acquired by CNET in 2007. Following that acquisition, Ralph served as Vice President of Product for CNET and later CBS Interactive, its parent company.

"School districts across the country are undertaking an enormous task to transition their curriculum and instruction to the rigorous Common Core State Standards. By providing a comprehensive toolset and essential curriculum resources, EdCaliber uniquely empowers districts to tackle this challenge," said Kevin Stone, CEO of EdCaliber. "Dan and Ralph bring us the Sales and Marketing expertise to take our product into the U.S. market and rapidly expand our customer base."

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