Ellucian is acquired by TPG Capital and Leonard Green Partners
On Monday, Fairfax, Va.-based edtech software company Ellucian announced that Texas-based global private investment firm TPG Capital and LA-based Leonard Green Partners had acquired a majority stake in the company. "We believe TPG and Leonard Green will be tremendous partners as we work to accelerate our cloud offering, enhance our student information systems, and broaden our product portfolio," Ellucian CEO Jeff Ray said in a statement. — Chris Bing
Jeff Bezos responds to NYT story in memo to employees
In a memo sent to employees and obtained by Geekwire, Amazon founder/CEO Jeff Bezos gave his take on the weekend’s New York Times story (“Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace”). Bezos said the article’s description of “shockingly callous management practices” at the company “doesn’t describe the Amazon I know.” He added: “I strongly believe that anyone working in a company that really is like the one described in the NYT would be crazy to stay. I know I would leave such a company.” Read more in Geekwire. — Kyle Alspach
From incarceration to innovative entrepreneurship
People just getting out of prison often have trouble putting their lives back together—which is why Teresa Hodge and her daughter Laurin have founded Mission: Launch, a D.C. startup aimed at helping former prisoners succeed once they leave prison. Their efforts have earned them a $50,000 prize from the U.S. Small Business Administration to start Mission: Launchpad, a business accelerator for former prisoners seeking to become entrepreneurs. Read more about their work in our full story here.
How city data can lead to startup success
Public data can do a lot for cities, and that kind of data can be vital to the success of a startup. We took a look at some of the cities with startups benefiting from a range of public data. Check out which cities made the cut and how the data is getting used in Brian Warmoth's story here.
Why Jessica Alba makes more from a tech startup than any movie
Hollywood star Jessica Alba has gone from rich to mega-wealthy after her e-commerce startup Honest Company closed a $100 million funding round. The funding valued the non-toxic household product maker, which Alba owns a fifth of, at more than $1.7 billion. That puts Alba's financial worth at about $340 million (or $90 million more than Beyoncé Knowles, for comparison). Check out our full story here.
The story of DC as a virtual reality hub
D.C. is well positioned to become a major hub of innovation in the world of virtual reality. Find out how the company has gotten some strong momentum in VR in the first part of Chris Bing's series here.
