This program will streamline access to resources and tools that new companies need to deliver innovative products based on open standards. Participants will gain access to the IMS developer community, implementation resources and support, and marketing opportunities associated with the annual Learning Impact Leadership Institute and IMS key initiatives.

Qualified new growth companies referred by New Markets that join IMS Global agree to achieve relevant IMS Conformance Certification for their product(s) within one year and keep all certifications current to ensure their products integrate seamlessly - with no additional cost - into an institution's digital ecosystem.

New Markets Venture Partners is an early and growth stage venture capital firm that invests in and actively supports education, information technology, and business services companies. The New Markets team has decades of experience building high growth companies through deep relationships with centers of education and workforce innovation. New Markets prides itself on adding value before, during, and after the investment process. The partnership with IMS Global will enable New Ventures to extend special IMS membership terms to their education portfolio companies and nominees that are in the early-growth stage of market development.

The first two New Markets companies to take advantage of this special partnership are Credly, a leading digital credential service provider for verifying, sharing, and managing digital credentials and badges, and LearnPlatform, a leading edtech management and rapid- cycle evaluation system that equips K-12 organizations to improve their budgets and student outcomes. Both Credly and LearnPlatform are building information networks that will grow faster and integrate more easily through the use of IMS open standards.

"Developing innovative products based on open standards from the ground up allows new businesses to focus on scaling and enhancing their solutions without the distraction of building time-consuming custom integrations," said Dr. Rob Abel, CEO of IMS Global Learning Consortium. "History indicates that startups that leverage the unparalleled IMS ecosystem become leaders in the education sector."

"Over the past twenty years, education technology has become more useful and adoption has become widespread. The average K-12 school district now uses more than 500 edtech tools each month. Colleges and universities likely use more. The most successful edtech companies adopt open standards early in their life and understand the power of standards to accelerate adoption, growth, and network effects," said Jason Palmer, General Partner of New Markets Venture Partners. "We are proud to formalize this relationship with IMS and offer improved access to open standards and interoperability to our portfolio companies and nominees."