CourseStorm raises $1.15M in Series B financing

CourseStorm, the Orono-based company that sells course-registration software to small- and medium-sized organizations, has raised $1.15 million in a Series B financing.

Investors include CEI Ventures, Maine Venture Fund and LearnLaunch of Boston. The investment will enable the high growth company to keep up its momentum and increase its headcount.

CourseStorm currently has clients in 44 states, ranging from a small township in Maine and a network of swim camps in Ohio, to a seven-hospital healthcare system and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. To date, the company has registered more than 225,000 students for classes.

“Increasingly people are getting education and enrichment outside of school. We are thrilled to receive this investment to help us with our ultimate mission and contribute to helping people become well-rounded citizens of the 21st century,” CourseStorm co-founder and CEO Brian Rahill, said in a statement. “People are living longer and changing jobs and are seeking new skills to stay in the workforce. Local education programs, job retraining, and certificate programs are filling a gap, often with a small staff and paper-based forms. Our platform gives them greater capacity and streamlines access to learning for everyone.”

(Read an extensive Founder Forum interview with Rahill from June 2017.)

The company, which recently received the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneurship Award, plans to create 20 new positions over the next 36 months, according to a news release.

“CourseStorm’s growth shows that innovation and hard work is happening in rural Maine,” Chandler Jones, principal of CEI Ventures, said in a statement. “Their promise aligns with our mission, to find investments in companies that benefit the community, in this case providing greater access to continuing education and other enrichment programs. Those are fundamentals toward strengthening communities and ultimately building an economy that works for everyone.”