Packback Announces Strategic Investment from PSG Equity
Investment aims to drive expansion of Packback’s AI-powered platform to help boost student engagement and academic performance in K-12 and higher education
Chicago, IL - March 21, 2024 -- Packback, whose AI-enabled writing and discussion platform has helped empower more than 1.5 million students to be fearlessly curious and express their unique voices, today announced a strategic growth investment from PSG, a leading growth equity firm partnering with software and technology-enabled services companies to help accelerate their growth.
Packback’s proprietary AI functions as a digital writing assistant, helping to build students' confidence by providing individualized feedback before they submit their assignments. For educators, the platform provides scaffolded, AI-powered support to make the grading process more seamless, giving them more time to provide personalized, content-specific feedback. Packback's approach is rooted in cognitive frameworks like Bloom's Taxonomy and Self Determination Theory, and utilizes AI models to coach students through the process of writing without ever doing so on their behalf. In a study from 2021 conducted in partnership with 10 higher education institutions, results indicate that students in classes that use Packback received more A, B, C grades and fewer D, F, W's than the control group.
“We are all incredibly excited to partner with PSG as we strive to advance our shared goal of getting more feedback to all students earlier in the learning process,” said Kelsey Behringer, CEO of Packback. “We’re grateful to have found a partner with a shared passion for education and deep empathy for the experience of the educators we support.”
“We believe Packback’s unique and innovative platform is helping to shape the future of education by integrating instructional AI to advance both student and educator experiences,” said Rick Essex, Managing Director at PSG. “We’re thrilled to partner with Kelsey Behringer and the entire Packback team as they continue to deliver great value and improved outcomes to the education community.”
“Classrooms appear to have never been more diverse and the pressure on educators has never been greater. Now, more than ever, we believe administrators, educators, and students are looking to embrace academically honest and safe AI technology to enhance learning outcomes and help alleviate teacher burnout,” continues Behringer. “For over six years, Packback has developed AI models to promote student success and lighten the administrative burden on educators. As our market demonstrates an urgent need, Packback is poised to help meet this demand, bolstered by PSG's support. At the core of this partnership is the commitment to fostering confidence, motivation, and genuine learning experiences among students.”
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal advisor to PSG. Goodwin Law served as legal advisor and Raymond James acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Packback.
About Packback
Packback is an education technology company located in Chicago, Illinois. Packback's mission is to harness the power of AI to help educators implement high quality pedagogy at scale. Their AI-enabled platform helps students build and master foundational skills such as critical thinking, writing, and research. Packback's proprietary AI and machine learning technology provides inquiry-based online discussion via their flagship product, Packback Questions, and long-form writing support with Packback Deep Dives, to over 10,000 instructors and over 1.5 million students, across thousands of courses in K-12 and higher education. Research at a growing number of higher education institutions has found improvements to students' academic outcomes, self-reported writing confidence, and instructor-reported writing quality as a result of their use of Packback. To learn more, visit http://www.packback.co.
About PSG
PSG is a growth equity firm that partners with software and technology-enabled services companies to help them navigate transformational growth, capitalize on strategic opportunities and build strong teams. Having backed more than 135 companies and facilitated over 479 add-on acquisitions, PSG brings extensive investment experience, deep expertise in software and technology, and a firm commitment to collaborating with management teams. Founded in 2014, PSG operates out of offices in Boston, Kansas City, London, Madrid, Paris and Tel-Aviv. To learn more about PSG, visit www.psgequity.com.