After taking a number of minority stake investments in third parties, Kaplan, a US-based education subsidiary of media company Washington Post, has formed a corporate venturing division.
Jason Palmer has taken the role of senior vice president of Kaplan Ventures and will head the group’s subsidiary, Kaplan VC, to identify and develop innovative learning strategies, technologies and products.
The size of the fund has not been disclosed but Kaplan said it would make about six deals in the next 12 months in the US, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and India. Last month, Kaplan invested $3.5m as part of a fourth funding round for child education company Headsprout and has been a long-term backer of publisher LibreDigital.
Jim Rosenthal, chief executive of Kaplan since 2008, said: "This new unit signifies the importance we place on outside entrepreneurs and the kind of work that will help improve the educational experience for students of all ages at all levels.
"Jason will collaborate with learning and technology experts across the company and the industry.
"Our goal is to nurture these new technologies to bring them to market, and to ensure our students and programs will benefit."