AMPLIFY’S LEAD BUYER turned out to be none other than Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of the late Apple co-founder and founder of Emerson Collective, a nonprofit focused on education and immigration reform. Reuters reports that she “is the lead investor who funded the buyout” of the beleaguered company sold by News Corp. in September. That same month, Powell Jobs also launched the XQ: The Super School Project, a $50 million challenge inviting teams to submit plans to re-invent high schools. (Amplify is credited as one of the partners.)
Emerson Collective has also invested in a slew of edtech startups including AltSchool, FreshGrade, Nearpod and, most recently Udacity’s $105 million round. She is also on the board of NewSchools Venture Fund (an investor in EdSurge.)
Financial details of the Amplify deal have not been disclosed. Powell Jobs’ education efforts date back several decades: in 1997 she founded College Track, a nonprofit that provides academic and advising services to help low-income students in California, Colorado and Louisiana attend and graduate from college.
