Being a faculty member requires a lot more than just teaching and research. Behind the scenes, there’s accreditation reporting, tracking and organizing work around tenure, plus managing and supporting students while staying on top of new technologies and instructional practices.
Washington D.C.-based Interfolio aims to help simplify the workflow for faculty with software it dubs “faculty information systems.” And the idea has caught the attention of investors: Insight Venture Partners is slated to acquire the DC company for more than $110 million, the Washington Business Journal reports. The deal is expected to close by the end of 2018.
Founded in 1999, Interfolio claims at least 300 colleges and universities, including University of California, Los Angeles, University of Texas at Austin, Reed College and Dartmouth, use its software.
Tufts University in Massachusetts is one of those partners. According to the school’s website, “Tufts never had a central database of all faculty and their scholarly contributions.” In December 2016, Tufts launched a project to centralize that information, and now offers faculty and staff free Interfolio accounts.
The software includes platforms focusing on three different areas. The first centralizes faculty data for activity reporting, which administrators gather for accreditation. The second is a dashboard to track data and documents around the tenure process, such as submissions and external evaluations. Last is a dashboard to manage faculty hiring and recruitment.
The company also offers a subscription-based job search and application tool called Dossier where faculty can search for job openings, grants, store letters of recommendation and other.
According to Crunchbase, Interfolio previously raised $13 million in a Series A round in 2016, and around $930,000 across two seed funding rounds in 2013 and 2008, bringing the company’s total amount raised to nearly $15 million—a fraction of the company’s $110-million exit.
“This investment is a tremendous validation of what has traditionally made higher education so exceptional: faculty performing research, teaching students, and leading through shared governance,” Interfolio CEO Andrew Rosen said in a prepared statement. “It also affirms our mission and track record of prioritizing the work and impact of faculty and promise of higher education.”
Insight, which is headquartered in New York, has invested in at least 300 companies around the globe. It’s carved out a niche for education technology companies including Turnitin, Pluralsight, Udemy and Achieve3000. (It was also an investor in edtech gaming startup Yogome, which recently shut its doors after allegations of fraud.)
Interfolio did not disclose details around the company’s revenue or if it is profitable. According to Rosen, the company’s day-to-day operations will remain the same and all employees will remain.
Correction: This story previously misnamed CEO Andrew Rosen. It has been updated.
