MasteryPrep sale seen as potential boost for other Capital Region startups

MasteryPrep, a Baton Rouge-based tech company that specializes in education, is said to be one the most rapidly-growing K-12 education businesses in the country. Acquired This week, Achieve Partners, a New York City education investment company, received an undisclosed amount. 

The company’s sale injects cash into the local entrepreneurial ecosystem, potentially boosting funding for other startups and early-stage companies.

MasteryPrep CEO Craig Gehring His company will still be based in Baton Rouge, he says. He said that MasteryPrep was supported by local investors ever since its creation in 2013. 

“The hope is that those returns are going to find their way back as seed money for more entrepreneurs in the area,” he says. “I hope that we’re part of a virtuous cycle.” 

This is the second portfolio company sale in recent years. Innovation CatalystVeneth, who is the board chair of, a non-profit venture organization in India that encourages the creation of new tech companies. Waitr was the first. Now ASAP. 

Innovation Catalyst receives a cash return from MasteryPrep and equity in the new company. These resources can then be transferred to new companies. 

“The return was pretty substantial relative to what we put in originally,” he says. 

Iyengar says the Baton Rouge business community should be “pumped” about the growing local companies that recently have had liquidity events, including General Informatics, Walk-On’s, BBQGuys, Premier Health and Louisiana Fish Fry.

Gehring believes Achieve is a great partner due to its expertise and shared mission.

“We’re a business, but we’re very focused on creating a social good,” he says. “They’re going to help us grow our footprint, innovate and better serve students.”