Noodle Markets Raises $3M to Transform K-12 Purchasing

Rethink Education Leads Series Seed Funding Round and Rick Segal joins Board

Noodle Markets, a New York-based education technology start-up focused on dramatically transforming K-12 purchasing, has raised $3 million in its series seed financing round. Rethink Education, a New York-based venture capital fund, led the round, followed by Palm Ventures.

The capital will be used to further the development of the Noodle Markets K-12 procurement platform and to build out the sales and customer success teams.  With the round, Rick Segal, co-founder and Managing Partner at Rethink, will join the Noodle Markets board.

Said Rick Segal on this early-stage investment: “At Rethink, we pride ourselves on finding the best education technology solutions – ones that truly solve real pain. Challenges around K-12 procurement have persisted for decades, and no one has thought of a creative way to address them.  We believe that the innovative solutions developed by Noodle Markets will add transparency, remove friction, and make K-12 purchasing easier.  This is an absolute necessity in a market that is becoming increasingly complex. We are thrilled to add Noodle Markets to our portfolio of education companies”.

Noodle Markets helps school districts expand the universe of vendors bidding on RFPs, reduce procurement prices, and streamline the procurement process by providing a one-stop source of comprehensive information about the vast array of paid and free educational tools, making the discovery and selection process easier for educators while also leveling the playing field for vendors. In early 2016, Noodle Markets will open its marketplace to K-12 educators, allowing education buyers to connect with sellers; currently, Noodle Markets is open to K-12 vendors, who can create free product and service profiles.

Noodle Markets’ biggest value-add will be the free tools provided to district purchasers that streamline and manage RFI, RFP, and similar procurement processes. These solutions will support educators with all forms of K-12 purchasing: from discretionary spending to selections made through competitive bidding.

“We feel privileged to have the support and backing of Rethink Education.  Rethink has been a trailblazer in establishing premier K-12 businesses that solve old problems in new and innovative ways,” said Nicole Neal, CEO of Noodle Markets.

Noodle Markets is the third company founded under The Noodle Companies (the others being Noodle.com and Noodle Partners), led by renowned education entrepreneur John Katzman, who previously founded The Princeton Review and 2U.  “We’ve incubated three great companies and management teams. It’s tremendously exciting to bring high-integrity funders into each one and to shift each company into high gear,” said Katzman.