St. Petersburg entrepreneur Rachel Fisher knows startup success is possible in Tampa Bay.
After two decades in the region, Fisher sold her second startup, this time to a Kenya-operated and U.S.-headquartered online learning company called Tustawi. The move adds an exit to her resume and shows her outlook on the region.
Tustawi purchased Fisher's edtech startup, Castnet Learning Inc., for an undisclosed amount in early May. The two companies worked together for more than a year before realizing the deal's potential.
"By combining our expertise in learning platforms with Hello PLATO's chatbot technology, we can move beyond a single platform approach and create flexible solutions that cater to diverse user needs and preferences," Esther Nyauncho, the founder of Tustawi, said in a statement. "This opens doors for us to expand our market reach and explore exciting new possibilities in the education sector and beyond."
Nyauncho and Fisher first met through a shared acquaintance from Fisher's class at the Wharton School of Business.
"We could see there was real excitement and enthusiasm around the technology in combination with Tustawi," Fisher said. "That's what sold us on the idea that it was better together."
Startup building was nearly impossible when Fisher moved to St. Pete in 1998, she said. Now, startups are seeing funding deals and acquisitions from the region. In 2024 alone, companies have migrated from tech hubs and closed significant raises, while a generation of entrepreneurs have reinvested in the region.
"The reality is it can be done here," Fisher said. "You can grow a company, exit a company here, have the company here."
Fisher has spent more than a decade in educational technology. She sold her edtech firm Ed Training Center to Frontline Education in 2016 and remained there until PE firm Thoma Bravo's acquisition in 2017. Fisher also held a leadership role with Tampa venture firm Florida Funders.
"Tampa Bay has an e-learning heart," Fisher said, referring to Tampa Bay success stories like private equity-acquired e-learning firm Vector Solutions.
Fisher founded Castnet Learning in 2020, seeing the absence of advanced tools for digital education. The company built a technology called Hello Plato, an AI-enabled educational platform in Meta-owned WhatsApp, a popular communication tool, especially in Kenya.
Fisher and Jessica Millstone, an investor in the company and managing partner at New York-based investment firm Copper Wire Ventures, will join Tustawi in informal advisory roles, Fisher said. Other Castnet Learning employees, such as co-founder Julie Lutz or the two salespeople, won't continue with Tustawi, Fisher said.
After the deal, Fisher is looking forward. She's unsure what to do next but plans to stay in St. Pete.
"I could see something where I'm in a more supportive role to the innovation that's coming from our young people instead of at the front waving the flag," she said.
