IU educational software sold for $100M

The efforts of IU faculty members to create educational software nine years ago paid off as the University’s largest commercial transaction.

Blackboard Inc., an educational software provider, announced last week it will purchase ANGEL Learning, the educational software produced from IU technology, for $100 million.

Because the University produced the software almost a decade ago, it has continued to invest in ANGEL Learning’s research and technology. Along with IU investments in ANGEL Learning and Research and Technology Corporation, the University will gain $23 million in proceeds from the sale, which will be reinvested for technological research and innovative programs.

ANGEL Learning software serves as an educational tool for students and teachers to track academic progress and manage teaching and learning goals. The software offers products varying from technology to computer-generated material.

Tony Armstrong, president and CEO of the IU Research and Technology Corp., said the educational software is designed for all grade levels through higher education and also corporate businesses. Armstrong said the software’s ability to benefit a broad target group has contributed to its success.

“The software helps teachers develop coursework,” Armstrong said. “It helps students track their academic progress, and it provides more educational opportunities to enhance skills of those already in the work force and not in a formal collegiate setting.”

Armstrong said the recently purchased software could provide more employment opportunities for Hoosiers by upgrading and solidifying skills important for promotional opportunities.

“It allows individuals to advance in their skills without being enrolled in a university or (being) a faculty member,” Armstrong said. “The software can be used in state groups and companies as an academic tool for continued education in specific fields such as nursing and technology.”

Ali Jafari, an IU alumnus, created ANGEL Learning, building it from his 1997 creation of Oncourse. After University Information Technology Services took over Oncourse in 1999, Jafari made a proposal to IU-Purdue University Indianapolis for state money to fund what is now ANGEL Learning.

“After receiving the money, my partner David Mills and I began research and finished ANGEL Learning, originally called ‘CyberLearning Labs,’ in the cyberlab research lab at Purdue University in 2000,” Jafari said.

Jafari said the progress to achieve success did not come easily.

“We struggled for the first and second year, but we kept going until it was sold last week,” Jafari said. “We started with pennies and little experience compared to Blackboard, who started with 300 times more money than we had.”

Jafari attributes the success to Mills, his colleague and former student, and IUPUI for making ANGEL Learning a reality.

“I’m very proud of ANGEL and what I was able to do,” Jafari said. “My project is good for Indiana University, it’s good for me, and I’m extremely thankful to IUPUI for providing funding. Without IUPUI’s financial support, ANGEL would have never happened.”