Victorian maths teacher sells education business in $35m to $40m range

An Australian maths teacher has become an overnight success after selling his education company for tens of millions of dollars.

An Australian maths teacher has become an overnight success after selling his education company for tens of millions of dollars.

An Australian man with humble beginnings as a maths teacher has become an overnight success after selling his education company for tens of millions of dollars.

On Tuesday, Andrew Spitty sold his company, Essential Assessment, to New Zealand business Education Perfect, in the range of between $35 million and $40 million.

Mr Spitty came up with the idea after noticing a gap in Australia’s education system and got the business off the ground himself.

While working at a high school in regional Victoria, the then-teacher noticed that students were coming to him with vastly different knowledge bases and he realised there was no consistent way to measure their level of understanding.

So sparked the idea for Essential Assessment, that gives participating schools standardised literacy and numerous tests to pinpoint a student’s ability. Students’ learning and improvements are also tracked through the technology.

Mr Spitty told news.com.au he had worked after hours and on weekends and there had been “many obstacles along the way”.

With seven years of experience as a teacher, and continuing to listen to the needs of other educators, his idea ultimately paid off though.

Mr Spitty will continue to work with Education Perfect, who acquired his company, as will his 22 staff members.

Andrew Spitty sold his business on Tuesday.

Mr Spitty built up the entire venture himself – which means the generous payout will also be landing in his pocket.

He credits part of his success to his previous career as a civil engineer. His past experience saw him walk “into teaching with expectations around what I thought the approach to teaching would be like”.

“One day in my teaching I was asked the question ‘if you could do things your way how would you do it?’,” he added.

This question got him thinking and led to the multimillion dollar idea.

Essential Assessment is being rolled into Education Perfect.

Education Perfect is a kindergarten to Year 12 education technology provider with a presence in New Zealand and Australia.

The company’s assessment platform is used by more than 2000 primary schools in Australia.

Now, thanks to the acquisition of Essential Assessment, their base has expanded significantly, able to reach 4000 schools and more than a million students in the country.

Helen Souness, Chair of Education Perfect’s board, said the merger meant the company was now “leading the way” in the education technology space.

“By combining our data analytics and content with Essential Assessment’s assessment capabilities, we are delivering a powerful mix that provides unparalleled perspective to schools to help improve performance and student impact,” she said.

Education Perfect has more than 200 staff based in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Dubai in the UAE and Toronto in Canada.

Originally published as Victorian maths teacher sells education business in $35m to $40m range