Retention Education, Inc. Closes Series B Funding

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., March 19  /PRNewswire/ -- Retention Education, Inc., a privately held educational company that creates language acquisition solutions for adult learners of English as a Second Language and Spanish as a Second Language,  today announced the completion of its Series B funding round from MK Capital, Ascend Venture Group, Ironwood Equity Fund and OCA Ventures.

"We are excited about the opportunity to support Retention Education in its quest to offer effective, innovative and engaging solutions to assist the Hispanic workforce, parents and adult students in language acquisition," said Karen Buckner, Partner and Chief Operating Officer of MK Capital.

"We are extremely pleased to have found a diverse and talented group of quality partners who can help us execute on our vision of developing human capital for the workforce and the Hispanic community," said Bill Groux, CEO and Founder of Retention Education.

Founded in 2003, Retention Education was established with the belief that empowering the U.S. adult Hispanic population with the language skills they need to advance their career and life goals would positively impact the economy and the community.

About Retention Education, Inc.

Retention Education, Inc. is an education company committed to the development and distribution of educational solutions, specifically the Sed de Saber product line, that help Hispanic adults improve their work skills and their daily lives. Sed de Saber is currently teaching conversational English to roughly 55,000 Hispanic workers in the foodservice, hospitality, and construction industries, as well as 10,000 Hispanic parents of English language-learning children via our nation's school systems. According to the U.S. Census data, there are currently between 10 and 15 million limited English-proficient Hispanic adults living in the United States. The company was established in 2003 and is headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California.  For more information, visit http://www.seddesaber.com/

MK Capital

MK Capital is a venture capital fund with headquarters in Chicago and an office in Los Angeles. MK Capital invests in emerging companies in education technology, software, digital media and outsourced services. Each of the Fund's principals has substantial operating experience and a proven track record of helping small business grow successfully. For more information, visit http://www.mkcapital.com/

About Ascend Venture Group, LLC

Ascend Venture Group, LLC is a private investment management firm headquartered in New York City.  Ascend combines highly sophisticated financial expertise with unique access to investment opportunities to create attractive risk/reward portfolios and partnerships for its investors.  The Firm targets investment opportunities in the applied technology and for-profit education industries.  Ascend currently manages more than $150 million and has made and/or sponsored investments in more than 30 companies.  For more information, please visit http://www.ascendventures.com/.

Ironwood Capital

Ironwood Equity Fund partners with exceptional management teams and will invest in both control and minority equity positions. The primary goal of the fund is to produce superior risk adjusted returns for its limited partners by providing capital and advice to promising middle market companies seeking to grow. http://www.ironwoodcap.com/

OCA Ventures

OCA Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on investments in companies with dramatic growth potential, primarily in technology, financial services, for-profit education and technology-enabled services businesses. OCA Ventures manages three funds and has invested in 25 companies since it began investing in 1999. http://www.ocaventures.com/ 

Retention Education, Inc.