One of Houston’s fastest-growing startups was acquired by a California-based student loan provider.
San Diego, California-based Ascent bought local startup Ampersand in a deal announced July 27. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. CEO and co-founder Allie Danziger told Houston Inno the company had raised approximately $2 million in funding at the time of its sale, and that her operations would remain in Houston.
As part of the deal, Danziger joined Ascent as senior vice president and general manager of student success, according to Ascent’s announcement. Danziger, who served as Ampersand’s CEO, said Ascent would open more opportunities for students and job seekers.
"Since launching Ampersand in 2020, we've received constant praise from employers, students, and universities on the real education-to-employment skills gap we are filling," Danziger said in a news release. "I take immense pride in the fact that we've helped thousands of students enter the workforce with confidence, earn higher salaries, and get set on the right career path.
Ampersand provides training for “soft skills” in the workforce. Danziger launched the company with co-founders Kathrin Applebaum and Scott Greenberg in 2020. After its founding, Ampersand received $1.75 million in pre-seed funding led by Curate Capital, a venture fund focused on female founders led by Carrie Colbert, and had a pilot program with 10 interns.
Danziger said Ascent was an ideal business for an exit because of its focus on loans.
“In my first investor deck from 2021, I always had the vision of partnering with a lender,” she said. “I’ve always believed the data we collect on our students as lenders would pair nicely with the information a bank or lender would value.
Danziger previously founded the public relations and social media agency Integrate PR and served as president until its acquisition by Austin-based Wellington Management.
Ampersand was recognized as a Houston Business Journal Fast 100 honoree in 2022, recognizing the company’s innovation. Ampersand was also honored at the 2022 Houston Business Journal Diversity in Business Awards in the Outstanding Business Diversity Helping Hand category, which recognizes for-profit and nonprofit organizations that champion diversity in the workplace or supply diversity-related resources.
Danziger’s work in employee training brought her face-to-face with a new generation in the workforce. Ampersand data showed that 52% of Generation Z do not expect to stay in a new job for more than two years, and Danziger previously said the influences of the world an employee grows up in impacts their approach to the workforce.
“They saw that you can’t be loyal to a job or committed to a job because you could get laid off at any time, which I think really drives to their focus on like, work cannot be life,” she said.
Those observations led Ampersand to tailor its offerings for younger workers, such as by training them in Zoom etiquette and bridging the gap left by a lack of in-person interaction in the workplace. Danziger said companies also had to improve how they communicated the importance of an employee’s work.
“Without taking the two minutes to explain, young professionals today can feel really disconnected, especially when they’re remote and not able to see the impact of their work then being played out five steps down the road,” she said.
