On September 20, 2023, Prairie Capital VII, LP partnered with the founders of STAR Autism Support (“STAR” or the “Company”) to recapitalize the Company. Founded over 20 years ago by the Arick family in Beaverton, OR, STAR provides digital curriculum and training to K-12 school districts and agency staff who work with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (“ASD”) and other developmental disabilities.
STAR’s reputation as a leader in autism teaching strategies is attributable to its long track record of demonstrated outcomes. The combination of STAR’s research-validated, evidence-based curriculum and professional development services drive effective and consistent instruction throughout school districts. STAR’s system-wide implementation approach builds teaching capacity to help manage districts’ growing needs.
The US special education curriculum market is approximately $750 million serving 6.8 million students. Over the past 7 years, the population of students with autism and developmental delay has increased 8.3%. In 2022, 1 in 36 children were diagnosed with ASD in the United States. 10 years ago, this number was 1 in 88. The special education curriculum market is underserved with the majority of special education teachers using self-developed materials. However, there is strong demand for evidence-based, third-party solutions with STAR uniquely positioned to benefit from this unmet demand.
Prairie Capital partnered with the Arick family to accelerate the growth of STAR’s SaaS solutions through company-building investments in human capital, sales and marketing, new products and add-on acquisitions.
For more information on STAR, please contact:
Tony Danielak at tdanielak@prairie-capital.com
Steve King at sking@prairie-capital.com
Mike Praljak at mpraljak@prairie-capital.com