DURHAM – Justin Richards launched Youth Digital in 2010 with the goal to reach and teach 100,000 students.

Youth Digital

At the time, they had just 100 students.  The bootstrapped company hit their goal in 2018, with students from more than 100 countries, and at the end of the year, announced that they had been acquired by Seattle-based Apex Learning.

“I have learned a lot and am still learning,” said Richards, who plans to take some time off to consider what might come next for the entrepreneur.  “I consider myself very fortunate to have worked on a team who really cared about our customers and believed in what we were doing.”

According to a statement from the two companies, Apex Learning will provide online support from experts to students that are enrolled in the technology courses offered on the Youth Digital platform.  Apex Learning began selling and supporting Youth Digital courses in January.

“There is a good match between our product and their existing product lines,” said Richards.  “They also share our most important value, which is caring deeply for each individual student.”

With the acquisition, Richards expects to see growth continue to accelerate.

“The goal is to create more introductory courses as well as advanced courses such as one aligned to AP Computer Science.”  And high school students will also be able to receive course credit for completing coursework in the current Youth Digital library including fashion design, C++, and #D Modelling.

Behind Youth Digital

The company began offering products, and marketed their courses to parents.  This quickly became the primary channel for Youth Digital to grow their student population.

“A few years ago, however, we saw a major opportunity to scale in the K-12 school market,” said Richards.  “More and more schools were looking for computer science curriculum and there were very few companies with engaging and in-depth curriculum that had been proven at scale.”

Youth Digital had spent years refining their courses, enhancing their product, and building a strong support team.  They’d provided courses for more than 70,000 students.  And even with that team in place, to truly capitalize on the market opportunity and expand access to hundreds of thousands of additional students, Richards began to look for a partner that could help scale the platform.

Teach students to learn AND code, says startup Youth Digital’s CEO

“It was important for us find a good fit for our product and team,” said Richards.  The company that best aligned with Youth Digital’s offering and mission?  Apex Learning.  “We were extremely happy to be able to sign with Apex,” said Richards.

Youth Digital’s summer camp programs now operate in 17 states, will not continue after the acquisition.

The enterprise licensing program will continue.

On its own, Youth Digital placed 83rd overall on the Inc 500 list, in 2016 when its revenue grew to $5.2 million in 2015.

Richards plans to take time off, but he anticipates that students will continue to put in the time, energy, and work to acquire knowledge and pursue mastery.

“I am excited to join our students in responding to what we have always asked of them,” said Richards, “Keep on creating.”