Herndon-based education company K12 Inc. raised $108 million in an initial public offering Thursday.
K12 Inc. was founded in 2000 and creates curricula for online public schools from elementary to high school.
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It offered 6 million shares at the price of $18 per share.
“Things are going well for us,” CEO Ron Packard said Thursday. “We’ve been growing at a rate of more than 50 percent per year.”
The company’s curriculum is used by 39,000 students in schools such as the California Virtual Academy and the Ohio Virtual Academy.
The Washington D.C. Community Academy Public Charter School Online uses the product as well.
K12 will use the capital raised by the IPO to expand domestically and possibly internationally as well, Packard said.
Online learning in the K-12 market has been growing at a rate of about 30 percent annually, said Susan Patrick, president of the North American Council for Online Learning, based in Vienna. Around 1 million students are estimated to have participated in 2007.
“It’s been growing rapidly,” Patrick said.
K12 is the largest company currently serving the sector, she said. The online classes tend to attract previously homeschooled students, as well as athletes, child actors or students who are home-bound for reasons such as disability, according to Patrick.
K12 employs about 700 people, 450 of whom are based in Herndon, according to Jeff Kwitowski, the company’s vice president of public relations.
The stock closed at $24.55 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.
