The Rise Fund, TPG’s multi-sector global impact investing strategy, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Teachers of Tomorrow, a teacher alternative certification program which provides training, certification, and placement services for aspiring teachers, from Gauge Capital.

“I am excited to have The Rise Fund’s support to build the nation’s leading provider of alternative teacher certification, professional development and teacher exam preparation,” said Phillip Braithwaite, CEO of Teachers of Tomorrow. “We have a proven platform that serves teachers and school districts and, in partnership with The Rise Fund, we are excited to build the premier educator ecosystem for teachers and schools across the U.S.”

“Teachers of Tomorrow is a natural fit for The Rise Fund’s mission to drive measurable social impact at scale,” said Steve Ellis, co-managing partner of The Rise Fund. “We are excited to back Phillip’s vision to accelerate growth both geographically and across product lines to provide training and support throughout the entire lifecycle of a teacher’s career.”

“We have enjoyed our partnership with Teachers of Tomorrow and are pleased with the increased impact the Company has had on the markets we serve. We selected The Rise Fund as the right future partner of the business based on their combination of education experience and overall mission,” said Tom McKelvey, co-founder and managing partner of Gauge Capital.

“Digitally enabled certification and training is a core investment theme for The Rise Fund. We spent over a year getting to know the team at Teachers of Tomorrow,” said John Rogers, partner and education sector lead at The Rise Fund. “And school district customers overwhelmingly told us they would hire even more candidates from Teachers of Tomorrow if the company could scale to meet their critical hiring needs. Teachers of Tomorrow provides STEM, bilingual, and career and technical certifications at all grade levels. They train 29% more teachers of color than the general population of teachers and the teachers they certify stay in the teaching profession at higher rates than national averages.”

Gauge Capital was advised by RW Baird and Ropes & Gray LLP. The Rise Fund was advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Hogan Lovells LLP.