How iD Tech Went From the Verge of Extinction to a $200 Million Acquisition in 12 Months

iD Tech, verge of extinction, selling a business

How iD Tech Went From the Verge of Extinction to a $200 Million Acquisition in 12 Months

“COVID has created many problems in the world yet there are companies that were forced to change their model for the better. ID Tech is one of them,” shares Sam Thompson a Minneapolis business broker and the president of M&A firm Transitions In Business. “They took their in person tech camps and made them a virtual success. This podcast offers great insight into selling a portion of your company to a Private Equity Group.”

Back in 1998, siblings Pete and Alexa Ingram-Cauchi started iD Tech to offer summer camps for kids who wanted to learn about computers.

The business grew each year and by 2019, was generating $70 million in annual sales hosting camps from Stanford to MIT and beyond.

Then COVID-19 hit and iD Tech was left with hundreds of contracts with schools, thousands of instructors, dozens of full-time employees, and no ability to run camps. The business needed to pivot quickly.

They decided to use the pandemic as the impetus to re-invent themselves as an online training company shifting their camps and content online. Within months, their online courses were gaining traction. By 2021, iD Tech was back and expecting $45 million in revenue — mostly from online camps and tutoring. Their reversal of fortune did not go unnoticed by Emeritus, an ed-tech giant who offered to acquire iD Tech for a cool $200 million. The deal closed in May of this year.

In this episode, Pete Ingram-Cauchi shares his wisdom of growing a mission-driven business including how to:

  • Stick handle the demands of an investor that wants top-line growth.
  • Recruit new employees who will fuel growth without destroying your culture.
  • Value different forms of revenue in your business.
  • Evaluate the fit with a potential investor.
  • Hold on to control, even after taking outside money.

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